Depth
by DKM
Summary: UPDATED 3 15 08 Is Van shallow or do Billie and Deaq just have a misunderstanding of him? Either way, Van knows he must prove them wrong. But will his need to prove himself overshadow something else?
1. Shallow Talk In The Deep End

**Depth**

By: DKM

Rating: PG-13

Synopsis: Is Van shallow or do Billie and Deaq just have a misunderstanding of him? Either way, Van knows he must prove them wrong. But when he takes on a case involving a drug smuggler's step-daughter, Van begins to realize there's more to women than just big boobs and a nice ass, and maybe learns a little something about himself as he gets close to her.

Author's Note: Yes, I've strayed away from the Van/Billie relationships to explore a new one between Van and a new character that's shaped after someone that many of us can relate to…

Disclaimer: Oh, hell… If I have to write another one of these, I swear… Fastlane- McG. Music - Respective artists. Everyone/thing else -Me.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Shallow Talk In The Deep End **

_I do not want anyone  
__Anyone who really wants me,  
__Every one that I desire  
__Wants to be with someone else  
__I find it so amusing  
__Isn't that the way it goes?  
__I'm a blip on someone's radar  
__They don't even catch my eye  
__I want what I haven't got, even if it kills me trying  
__-"Love And Attraction" Darren Hayes _

The side door slammed shut, the sound wave echoing through the converted theater that housed the Candy Store and startling Lt. Billie Chambers from her work. The current case on her desk was beginning to wreak havoc on her nerves. She'd been so engrossed in trying to find a good angle to bring in her crew that she almost jumped from her seat, but instead turned her head sharply towards where the sound came form.

Making their way towards her desk were her two lackeys, sorry, employees, Officer Van Ray and Detective Deaq Hayes. They talked amongst themselves in hushed tones until a sharp laugh escaped from Deaq's lips. That's when Billie became interested in their conversation and set aside her work to find out what they'd been talking about.

"So, why wasn't this girl 'all that?'" Deaq was asking the closer they got to Billie's desk.

"You didn't let me finish telling the story!" Van practically squeaked in his excitement to tell his partner all about the crazy night he'd just had.

"By all means, I'm not stopping you, V. Please continue," Deaq replied, leaning up against the lime green 1970 Dodge Charger on the showroom floor as Van stood across from him.

"So I was at Ivar hanging with Johnny O when I saw this really hot chick walk past the VIP lounge. She had long, blonde hair, blue eyes, full lips, long legs, and a really nice ass. It looked like she was about to leave 'cause she had her coat on, so I followed her out and we started talking. We ended up staying outside the club for at least an hour before she said she was hungry. I was like, 'Okay, let's head to the diner across the street,' you know? I was trying to be nice. Well, the second her coat came off, she wasn't all that hot anymore. She was chunky! Big arms, flabby stomach… All that stuff… I got so turned off that I think I barely said a word to her besides 'yeah' and 'uh-huh' for the rest of the night. I just let her talk about herself until she couldn't talk anymore, which was about the time we got the check. After that, it was 'See ya!' I split faster than you could say Notorious B.I.G.," Van explained, laughing at his little joke.

"Can you be any shallower?" Billie finally spoke up before Deaq could get a word in. She'd found the way to get Van to cooperate, albeit his actions disgusted her. She stood from her seat and walked over to them, a scowl present on her perfectly made up face.

Van froze for a second, not realizing she had listened in on the whole conversation until it was too late. But moments later, he quickly recoiled from her comment and retorted, "I'm not shallow!"

"Yes, you are!" Billie shot back, standing between him and his partner as she stared right into Van's bright grey green eyes.

"I am not shallow! Deaq, tell her I'm not shallow," Van turned to his partner for backup in this little battle of wits.

But Deaq made a quick beeline for Billie's desk, saying, "I am not getting involved in this," before he sat down in one of the black chairs. He turned around just in time to see the deadly glare Van was giving him.

"Thanks for backing me up, PARTNER!" Van shouted towards Deaq, but the man quickly turned around, signaling the end of his involvement in this matter. "Can I request a new partner?" Van asked as he turned back to Billie.

"You're not changing the subject," she barked, telling him she wasn't through with him yet.

"But I'm not shallow!" Van was exasperated by this point, almost ready to give in and admit it just to shut up his boss, but she had other plans.

"Prove it," Billie challenged, her sapphire eyes narrowing.

"Fine, I will!" Van declared, not realizing what he'd just gotten himself into. He hadn't noticed the glint in her eyes or the smirk on her cherry red lips until it was too late. The moment he glanced at her retreating face, he knew something was up. As she turned to walk away, Van quickly caught up with her. "Billie…?" The fear in his voice echoed throughout the Candy Store.

She glanced back at him for a moment, that smirk still present on her pretty face, before sitting down in her comfortable chair behind the large glass desk perched at the center of the large building. Tapping a few keys on the keyboard of her iMac, a file popped up on the large flat panel TV mounted behind her seat with an image of an oval faced, hazel eyed, brown haired teenager in what appeared to be a high school glamour photo. She wasn't beautiful, but she was somewhat pretty, her hair pulled back with cascading curls, two loose strands framing her face.

"Van, are you coming?" Billie called to him. Van snapped out of his daze and like the beaten dog she'd made him, he came and sat down in the chair beside Deaq.

"Our next mark?" Deaq asked, seeing where Billie was going with this. The moment he'd seen the smirk on her face as she walked back towards her "office," he knew she had something in mind for Van. Unable to help himself, he smiled. This girl definitely wasn't Van's type. She didn't have the blonde hair or blue eyes he usually went for. Instead, she had that girl-next-door charm, best friend material thing going on.

"Actually," Billie replied, clicking on her mouse so that another photo popped up, this time of a man in his late 40's, possibly early 50's with dark brown, almost black hair, cold grey eyes, and a smile so sinister it made both Van and Deaq cringe just looking at it. "He's the mark."

"Hunter Sterling," Van breathed. Deaq and Billie both sharply turned to stare at him. "What?" he shrugged, glancing at both of them for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should tell them how he knew the man. It might become a disadvantage, but Van could always work around it if he had to.

"Van," Billie narrowed her gaze on him as she waited for him to elaborate. When he remained mute, her voice became stern, "Van, how do you know Hunter Sterling?"

He stared at her, reluctant to give up the information until her eyes narrowed even more and that angry look crossed her face again. "I watch the news," Van lied. "He's the CEO of Zeus Records, right?"

"That's a load of crap," she was quick to call him out. How she always managed to figure out when he was lying baffled him. It's like he couldn't get anything past her, ever!

"Okay, so he tried to sign me to his label once! I said no!" Van finally spilled. 'Great, now I'm off the case,' he thought, looking down at his folded arms across his chest. When Billie hadn't said anything for a while, he glanced up, expecting to find her angry glare on him, but instead, found that there was a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Uh-huh," Billie murmured as a smile crossed her cherry lips. She didn't say anything else regarding that little tidbit of information, but that didn't stop Deaq from chiming in.

"You almost got a record deal?" he asked, honestly surprised and shocked. "When the hell was this?"

"Back when I was in college," Van explained. "I was playing guitar and doing the lead vocals for this band I knew so I could pay for tuition when he heard us play. He liked my voice and said he wanted to sign me. The only reason I didn't say yes was because I was in my last semester and I wanted to graduate."

"You, nice voice? I never would have thought," Deaq laughed, still unable to believe his partner. "So you gave up fame and fortune to finish college? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! But I'll give you props for that. I don't think anyone BUT you would ever give up the fame to finish college."

Van rolled his eyes. He wished he could have kept that a secret, but with Billie being so demanding, it was bound to come out sooner or later. Now, what she was planning to do with him, that was the real question, one he decided not to ask just yet. Instead, he returned his focus to the teenager she'd brought up on the screen earlier.

"Who's the girl?" Van finally asked. She was nothing like any of the other marks they'd had to get close to in the past. She was more of the little sister type who got mixed up in something and needed help getting out it. Van couldn't see himself trying to get in her pants, therefore thought the only reason she'd been brought into this case was as a side note.

"Cheryl Edwards," Billie replied, "his step-daughter."

"And where is this going?" his interrogation continued. Van thought for a moment that his incessant questions were going to get him a bitch slap, but he was surprised when that smirk returned to Billie's cherry lips as she stood up and began to walk away from her desk.

"For that," she answered, making her way towards the stairs that led upstairs to the theater seats and the second floor lounge, "I'm turning you over to a few people who have a little more inside knowledge than I'll ever be able to write down and repeat." She walked up the stairs, the boys following her like puppies wondering what the hell she was talking about.

Sitting on the white couches in the upstairs lounge where three young women huddled together. They all had solemn faces and sad eyes, and as the three cops approached, they all looked up. A flush immediately came over Van's cheeks when he realized that they had probably been sitting there for the entire conversation he'd had between his boss and his partner. He was just thankful that he hadn't made any comments about Cheryl, or he'd be in hell right now. It was bad enough they'd heard the "shallow" conversation.

"Van, Deaq, this is Stella Edwards, Cheryl's sister," Billie introduced the first girl, a tall, lanky, brown eyed, chestnut haired 19 year old. She stood up, politely extending her cold, trembling hand for the officers to shake. Van could definitely see the resemblance between the two siblings, even though Stella was slightly darker than her sister and a little thinner as well.

"Pleased to meet you," she barely whispered as she sat back down.

"This is Eva Drake, her cousin," Billie continued with the introductions as the second girl, a somewhat shorter, dark haired and brown eyed 21 year old with creamy white skin and pale pink lips stood up, also extending her hand.

"Please, call me Evie," she said, shaking hands with Van and Deaq.

"And finally, Leonie Wellington, their best friend," Billie finished up as the last girl stood up. She looked a bit different from the others, standing closer to Stella's height, with burgundy hair and green tinged hazel eyes.

"Leo," she replied, extending her hands for the customary handshake that the other two had already gone through with.

"Billie, sidebar," Van said as he took his boss by the arm and led her away from the lounge towards the theater seats for what he hoped would be a rational conversation. He was a bit suspicious of the three girls; where they came from and for what reasons. It was customary for him to wonder these types of things because he knew from experience they would only lead to problems later on. "How'd they find out about the Candy Store?" he asked, noticing the glare she'd been giving him ever since he pulled her away for this little conversation.

"They googled it," came Billie's sarcastic remark before she added, "The precinct! Where else?"

"You know that's not what I mean!" Van's voice rose nearly an octave. He was getting angry and frustrated. If she pushed one more button, he'd probably slap her.

"I don't care what you mean!" Billie was beyond angry. Van had already said too much, now he was just being the nosey little bastard he always was. "You're not here to question, Van, so I suggest you shut up, sit down, and listen to what these girls have to say because it's important to the case. I don't care how they got here, or how they found out about us. What I care about is putting away a drug smuggling murderer." And with that, she turned and walked back towards the lounge where Deaq and the three girls had already taken seats on the comfortable white couches.

Van stood there for a few moments, wondering how she had just managed to give him a slap in the face without even touching him. He had seen it coming, but he chose to do his usual questioning routine anyway. She'd given him the sarcasm body slam, as customary, but this time it was different. This time, it was in front of three girls. Van learned a valuable lesson that day… Billie wasn't above making an ass out of him no matter who was present. If he knew better, he'd keep his mouth shut. But that obviously wasn't going to happen.

He sauntered back over to the white couch and sat down beside his partner, hanging his head low so he wouldn't have to look at the faces of the three women in front of him. That familiar blush returned to his cheeks as he started to fiddle with a stray piece of string hanging from his dark green V-neck cotton knit sweater. The three girls stared at him for a couple of moments as they whispered amongst themselves in a language he couldn't understand before they stopped and glanced at each of the cops.

"Hunter wants Charlie dead," Stella began, quickly grabbing Van's attention as his head shot up and their eyes met. Her solemn face didn't change as she continued. "Charlie thinks he killed our father. She's hell bent on uncovering the truth, no matter what it takes or how much danger she puts herself in. We're scared for her life even though she thinks Hunter doesn't have the balls to kill her. I know he does. I overheard him talking about it to, of all people, our mother." A disgusted look came over the young woman's face as she visibly shuddered at the thought.

"Hold up, can you start from the beginning, like with you're father's death?" Deaq asked, feeling a bit confused by what he was being told. A glance at Van and Billie confirmed he wasn't the only one who wanted more insight.

Stella, Evie, and Leo all glanced at each other for a moment, their pained expressions giving away what they were thinking. Van's heart went out to them, especially Stella. He knew this wasn't going to be a fun story to tell, and quickly added, "You don't really have to explain the whole thing."

Stella looked up at him with her tear rimmed chocolate brown eyes, replying, "I have to, otherwise you won't really see why Charlie believes Hunter killed him."

"Okay," Van said as he reached over and took her hand, his thumb rubbing over the top in a comforting gesture. Stella smiled at him as she gently pulled her hand back and let it fall in her lap.

"It all started four years ago, when we live in the Chicago suburbs…"


	2. How It All Got Started

**Chapter 2: How It All Got Started **

_I step outside and take the cold in like a pill  
__Then I wake up and dream it was a dream I dreamt  
__That old house stuck up on a hill somewhere  
__Makes me cry out loud and wipe away the tears again  
__How do I know that you ain't gone away?  
__How do I know that you ain't gone away?  
__Heaven's on your doorstep and you ain't gone away  
__They make up lies, tell you things, and you ain't gone away  
__-"Gone Away" Binocular _

"Good morning, Chicago! God bless this beautiful morning…" Cheryl Edwards' radio alarm clock came to life with her favorite morning show, nearly startling her out of her bed as she glanced over at the red quartz numbers flashing from her nightstand. 7:00 on the dot. She grumbled, slapping the snooze button and pulling her red striped blanket over her head in hopes of getting five more minutes of sleep before she had to get up and get ready to go to school.

"Charlie, get your ass out of bed! Mom's getting pissed off that you're still not up yet," Stella poked her head through the door and nearly yelled at her sister.

"Fuck off," Charlie mumbled from beneath her blanket before it was pulled away from her body and thrown onto the grey carpeted floor. From the corner of her bleary hazel eyes, she could see the retreating form of her sister running out the door. "Bitch!" she cursed under her breath before finally getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth and start her morning routine.

In less than twenty minutes, Charlie was fully clothed in a pair of boot cut jeans and a light grey Aeropostale hoodie, her frizzy blonde streaked brown hair pulled back in her customary pony tail and her black backpack slung over her shoulder as she made her way into the kitchen for a quick bite to eat before she headed out the door that morning. Her mother, Kayla, a stay at home mom in her late forties with a teenagers build and long, straight blonde hair, was already in there packing lunch for her sister when Charlie took a seat at the kitchen counter and grabbed one of the plates sitting on the grey marble countertop stacked with pancakes, sausage links, and toast.

"If you keep eating like that, ke sa napresh krava!" Kayla quickly went off on her slightly overweight daughter, mixing some of her native Macedonian tongue along with English to get her point across, and to keep her husband from figuring out she'd just called her daughter a cow. "No wonder none of the boys like you. You're eighteen years old. The boys should be chasing after you, not running from you," she muttered under her breath as she slapped together a sandwich and threw it into a paper bag before leaving the kitchen to check on the laundry after hearing the machine whistle.

Charlie quickly lost her appetite, pushing away her plate and grabbing only the toast as her father, Alexander, walked into the kitchen and sat down beside her, the paper he'd held under his arm dropping on the countertop. "Morning," Charlie mumbled, not bothering to look up at him.

"Morning, sweetie," her father replied as he leaned over from his seat and placed a kiss on top of her hair. Alexander Edwards was a formidable businessman from the outside. He owned a CD manufacturing company in downtown Chicago, which was on the verge of making it big. His sharp hazel eyes, stern face, prominent chin and tall frame always gave one the impression that he meant business. But on the inside, he was a softy, especially for his eldest daughter. The two of them were like peas in a pod. They both liked the same things from movies to computers.

As he looked over at Charlie, he added, "That's not breakfast."

Charlie rolled her eyes, deciding not to tell him what had transpired between her and Kayla earlier. It just wasn't worth the arguing and the yelling that always followed. Instead, she replied, "I'm not that hungry."

"You will be if you don't eat anything else," Alexander pointed out as he grabbed one of the other food-filled plates and began eating.

"I've got gym class first period. I'd puke if I ate anything else," Charlie lied as she stood up from her chair and made her way to the other side of the counter to start packing her own lunch. It didn't really consist of much other than a sandwich and a bottle of water. She'd buy the rest from either the vending machines near her locker or the cafeteria during her lunch period.

"Well, alright," her father replied as he picked up his morning paper. But before he could even read the headline, his cell phone began to ring. He was quick to answer it with, "Alexander Edwards speaking."

Charlie tuned out for the rest of the conversation as she slipped the brown paper bag into her backpack. She looked over at her father to see the scowl present on his face and knew almost immediately it had something to do with his partners wanting to sell out their share of the company. She was tempted to ask how everything was going, but held back, fearing what he'd tell her. That was her problem. She'd get emotionally invested in something that was beyond her and end up getting frustrated and hurt over nothing in the end. It was her downfall, yet she continued to do it without really realizing it.

"Bastard," Charlie heard her father mutter as he put his cell phone back into the breast pocket of his dark grey pinstriped business suit. He picked up the paper soon after without a second thought of the conversation.

"How's business?" Charlie asked offhandedly, grabbing her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder as if she were getting ready to leave.

"Hunter Sterling is still trying to buy me out," Alexander replied, putting down his paper. "Did you finish all your homework today?" he quickly changed the subject. It alerted Charlie that things weren't going so well and that he didn't want to talk about it.

Trying not to be sarcastic, she replied, "Yes." She couldn't believe after all these years he always seemed to ask that question in the morning. "But you still need to help me with my science project this evening when you get home."

"I know," Alexander answered, taking a sip of his coffee before looking down at his watch. "Crap," he muttered, hastily putting down his cup and grabbing his paper. "It's getting late and I have a meeting with the partners this morning." He quickly retreated from the kitchen and stepped into the living room, grabbing his briefcase and opening it on the coffee table to make sure all his paperwork was in there. Realizing he'd forgotten something, he rushed back into the master bedroom as the phone began to ring in the kitchen.

Charlie reached over and quickly picked it up, not bothering to look at the caller ID, "Edwards' residence."

"Hello, may I please speak to Kayla?" a male voice replied.

The voice sounded familiar, but Charlie couldn't put a finger on where she'd heard it before. She shrugged it off and said, "Hold on." Putting the phone to her chest, she yelled, "MOM!" at the top of her lungs.

"I got it," her mother yelled in Macedonian.

Charlie hung up the phone from her end, but for kicks decided to check the caller ID and see who it was that called. " Sterling, Hunter," the name read. A shiver ran down Charlie's spine as she thought, 'What the hell is he calling my mom for?' Being a curious person by nature, she slowly picked the phone up again to listen in on the conversation. By that time it was almost over, but she did hear Sterling utter the words, "The ball's in your court. Get ready to roll," before the sound of the dial tone buzzed in her ears.

'What the fuck…?' Charlie's mind went racing. What the hell was Sterling talking about? And what did her mother have to do with it? The questions kept assaulting her mind as she could feel her heart begin to beat faster. She wanted to tell her father about this, and quickly put the phone back on its cradle as she rushed towards the living room yelling, "Dad!"

Alexander was putting away the last of his paperwork in his briefcase when he heard his daughter's voice calling for him. He looked up and saw her making her way towards him. "Yeah, honey?" he asked. He looked down at his watch again and added, "Make it quick, I'm running late for work."

Charlie stood there for a moment, wondering if she should tell him now or save it for later, when her mother wasn't around. "You know what, it can wait," she replied, plastering a big, fake smile on her face.

"Alright, I'll see you tonight, then. We'll get that science thing hammered out as soon as I get home," Alexander said as he grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door.

"Okay," Charlie called after him. She went back to the kitchen and grabbed her backpack, also heading for the door. Stella followed her out and the two of them set off for their morning walk to school. Both hated the fact that it was mid January and freezing cold outside, but they didn't complain since their high school was less than 100 yards from their house.

Upon entering the main doors, they went their separate ways, Charlie towards senior hall and Stella towards freshman hall. They knew they wouldn't cross paths again until lunch, and said their goodbyes. Charlie met up with her cousin, Evie Drake, and their best friend, Leo Wellington, at her locker, where the two of them, along with a much larger group of their mutual friends had already gathered for the morning banter and gossip. It wasn't long before the bell rang and they all scattered, heading for their respective classrooms.

Charlie headed to the ground floor for her first class, which wasn't gym, but ecology. It was one of her favorite classes because she liked science and her teacher was pretty cool. Sitting down at her usual desk beside another one of her friends, Abby Butler, the two began to converse softly before their attention was called to the chalkboard for their first lesson of the day.

Halfway through ecology, one of the school's student messengers walked into the classroom and handed the teacher a note. Charlie was too engrossed with her lab to see the girl slip in and out of the classroom until she heard her name being called. She headed up to his desk and was given the note. It was a dean's office slip telling her to immediately see the dean. Charlie's heart leapt into her throat. Those were never good. They either meant you were in trouble or something far worse.

"I'll be back," Charlie said as she passed Abby on her way out.

It wasn't much of a walk to the dean's office. She walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor and it was on her right. Her hands had gone cold and began to tremble as she took hold of the doorknob and slowly pulled the door open. She could see her sister was in there already, the color having drained from her face as she looked up at Charlie with fear present in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Stella?"

"Charlie?"

They looked at each other, their fear growing as an aid motioned for them to step into the dean's office. The sisters slowly made their way into the little room where the dean, a man with a bald head and silver framed glasses, sat at a large oak desk, an old woman who Charlie knew was the school's grief counselor standing behind him.

"Cheryl, Stella, please sit down," the man's deep, commanding voice told them. Both were on autopilot and took the seats opposite the dean as he looked from one sister to another, a hint of sorrow gracing his already solemn face. "Your mother just called. It's about your father. Fifteen minutes ago, he was involved in a major car accident on the expressway. Unfortunately, he died on impact…"

Beyond that point, Charlie had gone completely numb and didn't hear anything else the man had to say. Her mind didn't grasp the concept until she glanced over at her sister, who was already bawling her eyes out in the seat beside her. Before she knew what was happening, a sound somewhere between a hiccup and a gasp escaped Charlie's lips as tears began to flow from her eyes. Her head dropped into her hands as her body shook with more sobs.

"No!" Charlie screamed. "He's not dead! This is some sick joke! He can't be dead! I just saw him this morning!" She got up and ran out of the dean's office, down the hall, and into the bathroom, where she locked herself in a stall and refused the come out for at least an hour. In that hour, she'd run the gamut of emotions that came with this kind of reality bitch slap: denial, anger, rage, helplessness, depression.

It took a lot of patience on the part of the grief counselor to get Charlie to come out, and when she finally did, she was too exhausted to cry anymore. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was puffy red. She was escorted back to the dean's office where her cousin had been called down to be given the news. Evie was also bawling her eyes out, grabbing onto Stella for dear life as she sat there, stone faced and silent, the tears having stopped a while ago. Just like Charlie, she was numb, unable to feel the pain anymore. They glanced at each other for a moment before turning away and staring out the window as they waited for their mother to come pick them up.

Thoughts of what happened and why began to filter through Charlie's head as she stared out towards the snow covered football field. Large flakes had begun to fall, landing on the cold ground and sticking to one another until they formed a thin blanket of snow. 'It can't be an accident,' she thought, remembering what she'd overheard Sterling tell her mother over the phone that morning. 'I know he did it. I know that bastard is behind this. He wanted my father's business, and now he's going to get it. I will find out the truth, even if it kills me.' Charlie breathed in a deep, determined sigh as she continued to stare out at the falling snow.

* * *

"Ever since that day, Charlie's been looking for any information regarding our father's death," Stella finished. "She's been keeping a file on Hunter Sterling that I only found out about recently. She has it locked up in a safe along with her journal, which has all her suspicions listed along with detailed descriptions on Hunter's activities and business dealings. I didn't realized just how deep this went until I read through all the information and saw every single detail on how so many things added up. What really did it for me was the fact that I overheard him talking to my mother about how Charlie's getting a little too close to the truth and that she needs to be taken care of. That's why, with Leo's sister's boyfriend's help, we got in touch with you."

Van finally got the answer he'd been looking for on how the girls had ended up in their laps, but had been overshadowed by the story he'd just heard. He was intrigued by how someone so young could get involved in something so deep. Looking over at his partner and his boss, he could see the wheels turning in their minds.

Billie turned to Stella and asked, "Do you by any chance have that file with all of Charlie's suspicions?"

"Of course," Stella answered as she grabbed the large purse at her feet and rummaged through it until she found a manila folder jam packed with slips of paper. "I photocopied it the other day while Charlie was out drinking with her friends." She handed the large folder over to Billie, who began to thumb through it until she found Charlie's journal entries. "I can give you a basic rundown of everything that's in there," she offered, seeing that Billie was slowly going through each and every page.

"Please do," Deaq chimed in, knowing that neither he nor Van would get a crack at that thing until Billie had thoroughly looked through it and catalogued every important piece of information that was relevant to their case.

"The first thing that tipped Charlie off was the incessant phone calls that our mother was getting from California. Charlie always picked up the phone and made sure to record as many calls as she could. They're on a CD in the folder. Unfortunately, she couldn't get anything good from them because our mother realized what she was doing and quickly bought a cell phone to curb Charlie's antics. The second thing was our father's million dollar insurance policy that he hadn't told anyone about. Our mother was the beneficiary, and when she found out she was getting paid the entire sum, she turned from grieving widow into shopaholic. There wasn't a single thing she didn't buy. Charlie even wrote down several of the purchase she'd made that weren't for herself or for us. There's a note in one of her journal entries that specifically states they went to Hunter Sterling. That was the third thing that made her suspicion grow. The fourth was when Sterling swooped in and bought out my father's partners and took over his company a week after the funeral. But the final nail in the coffin was when Charlie found out our mother had been seeing Sterling every time he flew into Chicago. And when they got married this past summer, she didn't even attend the wedding. Charlie hasn't been sober since then," Stella explained.

"But those aren't the only things Charlie found out," Evie chimed in after having been mute since the introductions. "Stella, tell them what she found out Hunter's been doing in the basement."

Stella glared at her cousin, but did as she was told. "He's running some kind of drug operation from the basement of the mansion. Charlie came across it a few weeks ago when she was snooping around to see if she could dig up anything. Apparently it's heavily guarded by Sterling's thugs and the only way inside has a security code you need to type in. I don't exactly know what Charlie saw to make her think there was a drug operation down there, but she did note they were carrying bags of white powder out. She says she thinks Sterling saw her, but she wasn't sure. That was about the time that I heard him tell my mother that Charlie was getting too close and needed to be taken care of."

"And that's when I told my sister's boyfriend, who's a cop, about the situation and he said he'd try to find someone to help us. So we ended up here," Leo added. "We know this place is supposed to be a secret, and we promise we won't tell."

"Just please, help us. We don't know what to do," Stella begged, taking Van's hand this time and looking him straight in the eyes.

"We don't wanna see Charlie get killed. We want Hunter to go down," Evie replied, that same pleading look in her eyes as she gazed at Van and Deaq.

Van softly began to rub Stella's cold hand with his. He was touched by the girls' concern for Charlie, and that pouty look any pretty girl gave him always made him seem to sway towards their point of view. "Okay," he softy agreed, giving her a little smile even though he had no idea how they were going to get close to Sterling. He let go of Stella's cold hand and nudged Billie with his elbow. When she looked up from the file, Van asked, "So, what's the plan?"

Billie straightened up the papers in her lap and replied, "How much does Sterling know about you?"

"Not much," he answered, "other than my first name, nothing. I'd be surprised if he even remembers me after almost six years."

A smile slowly crept onto her cherry lips as she said, "Good." Billie paused for a moment and placed the file on the table between the two parties. "You're going to try and get that record deal again, except this time, Deaq will be your manager, and he's going to have a little drug problem."

"Okay, sounds good," Van replied, feeling the pressure already lifting off his shoulders that he wasn't going to be kicked off this case and made to sit it out while she and Deaq did all the fun stuff.

"You're also going to befriend Charlie and get as much information out of her as you can while Deaq works over Sterling," Billie added.

"What!" Van almost shouted as he looked at her sharply.

"Come on, Van, I thought you weren't shallow," she baited him. "You said you could prove it, so prove it."

Van's mouth was left to hang open as Billie got up, knowing she'd just manipulated him into doing exactly what she wanted. She couldn't have asked for a more perfect day than today. Everything just seemed to fall into place. The added bonus was that Van couldn't try to weasel his way out of the assignment. There was too much pride at stake, and proving himself right was something they continually clashed over on almost a daily basis. Now he could not only prove her wrong but make himself useful doing it.

Billie stood up, grabbing the folder with all the information in it, and started to make her way downstairs. "Girls, could you give Van a basic rundown of Charlie's personality, just so he knows what he's getting himself into?" she yelled over her shoulder.

Leo snickered as she replied, "No problem."

"I'm gonna go give Aquarius a call and see if he can set something up for us," Deaq said as he stood up as well and follow Billie's path downstairs. "I'll leave you and 'the girls' to chit chat for a little while," he added with a little snicker of his own. He could feel the daggers Van's eyes were shooting at his back as he stepped down the stairs, but he didn't look back, afraid the smile on his face would get him in trouble.

The color drained from Van's face as he turned to face the three giggling girls that sat across from him. This was possibly the worst day of his life. Everything he'd said and done was coming back to bite him in the ass, BIG TIME!

* * *

Hello everybody! It's great to be back! I'm glad you like the new story. I wanna say aquick thanksto my betas, prplerayne andfan4fastln. You guys are totally awesome. Thanks for all your help so far.Thanks for all your comments. Please help keep me going and keep posting what you're liking and hating about this story. It's really important to me to hear what you have to say. Thanks again!

simbagirl: Hey, girlie! I'm so glad to see you again! And I'm even more glad that you're posting! WOOHOO! More story from you! That's totally awesome! Hope everything's going well with you. Post more soon! I wanna know what happens to Van when he gets to Finland!

FoxyWombat: You'll see, soon enough! I'm glad you like it. I hope this chapter was just as interesting as the last one and that you enjoyed it just as much. Thanks for the review!

prplerayne: I knew you would! It's been running around in my mind forever and now I can finally get it out and write it down! I just hope this story works out in the end. Thanks for the help and I'm glad you like it!

fan4fastln: No harm in saying it again! Hehe. I'm always in need of reassurance. I think you'll like the rest of the story. I've written a few more chapters since I sent it to you, but I'm gonna hold off on sending them to see if I can make a few more changes. The muse is definitely cooperating now. Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it!

The unsigned: I hope you like this story too! I know, it's a change from the last one, but I just really needed to explore a new avenue. I hope it turns out well. Thank you for reading, tho. I really appreciate it.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this last update. More coming soon!


	3. Romancing The Stone

**Chapter 3: Romancing The Stone**

_Last call, no more drinks tonight,  
__And it's not your fault, its time to walk away from,  
__This velvet box, full of alcohol,  
__And TV talks, gone on far too long  
__-"Hotel Roosevelt" Augustana _

"I can't believe you're making me do this!" Van grumbled to his partner as he stood behind the black stage curtain in one of LA's premier karaoke bars, The Hideout. Tonight, though, there would be no karaoke. It was open mic night, and Billie had managed to get him into the already jam packed schedule of performers with a little bribery and some good old fashioned threatening. Both she and Deaq thought it would be a good idea to expose him as an artist just coming onto the scene, so it wouldn't look suspicious. Besides, Billie had heard through the grape vine that a scout from Sterling's record label would be there that night looking for new talent. Van was now nervously pacing the small backstage area with his old acoustic guitar, a worn out Fender that he still loved to play in his spare time. It had been a while since his last performance in front of a crowd.

Deaq gave him a cocky smiled and replied, "Finally, after over a year, I get my payback for the karaoke incident, which, by your admission, I won." Van knew he'd had an ulterior motive for booking this gig, and he only found out tonight what it was.

"Quit reminding me. That's, like, the tenth time you've said that," he angrily shot back as he peeked out from behind the curtain and spotted Stella, Evie, and Leo sitting at one of the wooden tables that were a little closer to the bar than the stage, but still had a great view, minus Charlie. They'd told him she'd be there a little late, but this was ridiculous. Van was set to perform next and she was still a no show.

"Relax, V," Deaq tried to calm down his partner when he saw him glance out from the curtain for the hundredth time. "She'll be here."

Van ran a frustrated hand through his already wild hair. Based on what Stella, Evie, and Leo had told him, Van was pretty much exactly the kind of guy Charlie was attracted to. The one thing they made sure he played up on was his hair. Apparently, that was the first thing she went for, followed by eyes. With their help, Van had managed to transform himself into Charlie's perfect man. Now, if only he could bite back his pride and put aside all the negative attributes she possessed, he'd be able to get close to her without a problem.

Taking one more glance out from behind the black curtain, Van could see the woman of the hour had finally arrived. 'Shit,' he thought. When he'd first seen her photo at the Candy Store, Charlie looked half decent. Not exactly his perfect woman, but still somewhat cute. Stella, Evie, and Leo had warned him that she'd let herself go in the last four years since her father's death, but he never could have imagined it would be this bad.

Frizzy, tri-colored hair pulled back in a ponytail at the base of the neck, dorky, horn rimmed glasses, pale face, tired hazel eyes, mismatched ill fitting blue jeans with a maroon t-shirt layered over a brown long sleeved shirt, and a body about twenty pounds heavier than what her photo had shown, Charlie was definitely the last person that would ever make Van's list of hot women. No wonder the girls had snickered when they found out he would be trying to get close to her. But Van had to remind himself that he'd told Billie he wasn't shallow, even though he was beginning to believe that he just might be after wondering why any guy would even want to go out with Charlie. He reprimanded himself for passing judgment so quickly and started to think of ways to start a conversation with her. After all, she was a shy, quiet person, or so he was told, and it came out when she was around men. Come to think of it, Stella had even gone as far as to say she was afraid of men. Van was up for the challenge, though. He'd make this work. After all, no one deserved a death sentence for trying to uncover the truth.

At the little table near the bar, Stella, Evie, and Leo were already greeting a not so happy Charlie. There was a frown on her face as she glanced around the place and saw it was nothing like what she was used to. Charlie was more of a clubber than a bar hopper, and she made her discontent clear by saying, "Why the hell are we here? This is a karaoke bar, not a club."

"Come on, Charlie," Evie groaned as she motioned for her cousin to sit down beside her in an empty chair. "It's about time we tried something new. I'm getting sick of clubbing. Besides, the drinks here are so much cheaper."

"Whatever," Charlie grumbled, throwing her purse on the table. "I'm getting a drink. You guys want anything?"

"No," Stella replied, "I'm good."

"So am I," Evie added.

"Me too," Leo chimed in.

Shrugging them off, Charlie wove her way through the small throng of people crowded near the bar until she finally found an empty seat. It wasn't hard to flag down one of the three bartenders and order the first of her many drinks, a very strong Long Island Iced Tea, even though in her opinion no drink was ever strong enough unless she made it herself. She started a tab on her credit card and headed back to the girls' table, taking the seat Evie had previously offered.

'Just in time,' Charlie thought as the current performer, a 40-something year old guy with overgrown matted black hair finally finished playing his flute and got off the stage, allowing someone else to blast her ears full of god awful music she could live without. But the next performer was quite the opposite of what she'd been expecting. The man was in his mid to late twenties with a rich mane of chocolate colored hair and a pair of sparkling grey green eyes. Charlie caught his name: Van Strummer. He was definitely a sight for sore eyes, his tight, lime green long sleeved shirt drawing attention to his well muscled upper torso. Even if he sucked, it was still fun to watch.

But Charlie would soon realize that she'd be proven wrong yet again. With one strum of his well worn guitar, everything just came together perfectly. The soft melody of the song he began to play caught her off guard, and as his voice came clear over the sound system, Charlie was mesmerized.

_I know a girl  
__She puts the color inside of my world  
__She's just like a maze  
__Where all of the walls all continually change  
__And I've done all I can  
__To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands  
__Now I'm starting to see  
__Maybe it's got nothing to do with me _

Their eyes met and Charlie froze instantly, Van's gaze so captivating that she'd completely forgotten the drink on the table next to her. Stella was the first to notice her sister's spellbound look and gently nudged Evie to point it out to her. They both smiled at each other before returning their focus to Van's performance. They had to give him credit, though; he was pretty damn good.

All the while, Charlie couldn't keep her eyes off the man that seemed to be singing exclusively to her. What made it all the more enchanting were the lyrics of his song. They captured her life story, furthering her infatuation with him.

_So fathers be good to your daughters,  
__Daughters will love like you do,  
__Girls become lovers who turn into mothers  
__So mothers be good to your daughters too. _

"Hey, Charlie," Evie said, deciding it was time to have a little fun with her cousin and see how much of a chance Van stood with her. There was plenty she could get her cousin to say in this kind of mindset. It was as if she was drunk, but without all the nasty side effects and the falling over part. When she heard the dreamy sigh escape Charlie's lips, Evie's smile turned into a full blown grin. "Aren't you glad we dragged you here?" she asked. Charlie simply nodded. "Doesn't he sound really good?" Again, she nodded. "Isn't he hot?" Charlie nodded once more. A wicked smile came across Evie's pale pink lips as she asked her final question, "Would you like me to ask him out for you?"

Charlie's head began to bob upwards before she stopped herself mid nod realizing what her cousin had just asked her. She sharply turned her head as she barked, "Evie!"

Stella and Leo laughed, realizing that Evie had just done the mind trick with Charlie. It was something she'd become almost perfect at, this time being an exception because she'd caught on to the game. But at other times, Charlie would never even know.

_Oh, you see that skin?  
__It's the same she's been standing in  
__Since the day she saw him walking away  
__Now she's left  
__Cleaning up the mess he made _

"Seriously, Charlie, I'll do it," Evie replied, putting on a straight face.

"No!" her cousin quickly dismissed her. "You're not going to set me up with someone neither of us knows! What if he turns out to be some psycho serial killer?"

"Charlie, you're paranoid," Stella flatly answered. "You seriously need a boyfriend. Why not him?"

"For the obvious reasons," Charlie answered, giving her that "duh" look. "What makes you think a guy like that will ever remotely find me attractive."

"Well, maybe if you made yourself remotely attractive, guys would actually notice you," Evie shot back.

"Yeah, but guys like that?" Charlie was getting defensive. She didn't feel like arguing over this anymore. Grabbing the drink on the table and taking a very big gulp of it, she signaled the end of the conversation and everyone went silent.

_So fathers be good to your daughters,  
__Daughters will love like you do, yeah  
__Girls become lovers who turn into mothers  
__So mothers be good to your daughters too. _

Charlie refocused her attention on Van, his eyes meeting hers once again, except this time he really was staring at her because he smiled. She could feel the flush of red come to her cheeks as she looked away, embarrassed that he'd caught her staring, but even more embarrassed that she'd caught his attention. That was the last thing Charlie wanted; to confirm her cousin's suspicions and actually have her ask him out for her. To keep her mind off it all, she gulped down the rest of her drink, the alcohol finally hitting her bloodstream and putting her mind slowly at ease. It would take several more before she was fully relaxed, but she could manage with just one right now.

_Boys, you can break  
__You'll find out how much they can take  
__Boys will be strong  
__And boys soldier on  
__But boys would be gone without warmth of  
__A woman's good, good heart _

A waiter came by to grab her glass, and Charlie quickly ordered one more. It was brought out to her within moments, and not long after that, the glass was already half empty. This was the perfect buzz that Charlie wished would last all night, because all too soon, that drunken euphoria would set in, causing her to lose focus and possibly get her in trouble. God knew how many times she'd fallen down drunk on her ass in the middle of happy hour. Tonight seemed to be another one of those nights. She took solace in the fact that at least it kept her from thinking about everything else in her life. She was already dealing with enough stress as it was. Having to add dating into it would only serve to make her life a living nightmare. Besides, if she did start dating someone, they'd probably dump her ass soon after she told them all about her crazy suspicions. That was probably the main reason Charlie decided now was not the time to start seeing someone.

_On behalf of every man  
__Looking out for every girl  
__You are the god and the weight of her world  
__So fathers be good to your daughters,  
__Daughters will love like you do,  
__Girls become lovers who turn into mothers  
__So mothers be good to your daughters too  
__So mothers be good to your daughters too  
__So mothers be good to your daughters too _

All too soon, Van's song ended. The crowd went wild over his performance, and even gave him a standing ovation. Instead of acting like a rock star, he politely thanked everyone for coming and exited the stage as Charlie finished her second drink. She had refused to look at him for the rest of his performance, fearing that it would only make Evie all the more suspicious and prompt her to do the unthinkable. Instead, she used the drink as her excuse to get up and buy a third, avoiding all conversation with her cousin on the topic of Van.

Backstage, the feelings of euphoria and excitement coursed through Van's body as he walked off the stage. "Oh, man! That was awesome! Did you see them? They went nuts!" he exclaimed like a child hyped up on sugar.

Deaq was already waiting for him, a surprised and dumbfounded present on his face. "Tell me again, why did you turn down that record deal?" he asked as his partner stowed away the guitar in its black leather case.

"Because I wanted to finish school," Van dumbly replied, picking up the guitar case and heading out the back door to stick it in his car so no one would steal it.

Deaq followed him, saying, "You're retarded. If I had that kind of talent, I would have been all over that record deal." They made their way back into the bar as Van gave him a dirty look.

"What I choose to do with my life is my business," he sharply replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to go acquaint myself with the mark."

Deaq chuckled as he watched his partner make his way through the crowd. He'd also taken a peek at Charlie and realized she looked nothing like she did four years ago. He had more than enough fodder for comedy at Van's expense with just that one look. But Deaq reprimanded himself for being so harsh. There were some very good reasons why a person would completely ignore their own wellbeing, and Charlie had plenty of them. Maybe all she needed was a little love from someone other than her family. Van seemed to fit the bill, considering he had so many problems of his own.

Charlie decided to stay at the bar, the easy access to alcohol being the main reason, the second being her cousin, her sister, and her best friend. God only knew what they were talking about in their hushed tones as she glanced over at them every once in a while. In all probability it involved getting her and Van together. Charlie began to laugh at the idea, quickly dismissing it as she sipped her drink, content with being alone right now.

As she glanced over at the table again, she noticed that Stella and Evie had gone, leaving Leo to sit all by herself. Charlie motioned for her to come to the bar since there were several empty seats now that most of the crowd had dispersed for intermission. Leo stood up, grabbing the girls' purses, and made her way to an empty bar stool to the left of her best friend.

"Are they still trying to set me up with Van?" Charlie asked, taking another sip of her drink.

"Pretty much," Leo answered, ordering one of her own. Charlie motioned for the bartender to put it on her tab as her friend added, "You seriously don't need to do that. I've got money."

"Leo, how many times have I told you the only reason I put all these drinks on my tab is because I wanna piss off my mom and Sterling?" Charlie replied. "I don't give a damn how much you drink, so long as we have a good time."

"But, Charlie, you do this too often. You're becoming an alcoholic," Leo said, her voice full of concern.

"I'm not an alcoholic," Charlie blatantly told her friend. "Alcoholics go to meetings."

Leo just turned away and shook her head as the bartender put her drink down on a coaster in front of her. She was about to make another comment about Charlie's alcoholism, but was quickly silenced when she saw the person approaching from their right. Charlie noticed the surprised expression on her friend's face and quickly turned around to see Van making his way to the bar and heading straight for them. Like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car she sat there, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to do anything but stare at him as he got closer and closer until he sat down right next to her in the empty bar stool.

'Oh, SHIT!' Charlie's mind screamed as she turned towards Leo, who had the same expression on her face. She could only pray that he wouldn't talk to her, just order a drink and be on his way. But that wouldn't be the case tonight. Feeling a nudge from the man sitting beside her, Charlie slowly turned around to face him.

"Hi," Van said with a smile. She was quickly mesmerized by his grey green eyes and rendered mute until he added, "I noticed you were really digging the song. I just thought it would be polite to introduce myself. I'm Van." He extended his hand and waited for her to take it.

Charlie's mouth hung open, not really registering what he was saying. She thought for a moment that maybe this was a dream and that somehow maybe Van was being sincere about wanting to introduce himself to her until out of the corner of her eye she saw her sister and her cousin making their way towards the bar, whispering and giggling softly at each other. Immediately she knew what they had done. And immediately her blood began to bubble, the anger coursing through her veins. The expression on her face changed from amazement to discontent in a matter of moments.

"How much are they paying you?" Charlie asked him as her eyes narrowed into little slits.

"What?" Van replied, confused by her reaction.

"I asked you how much my cousin and my sister are paying you to talk to me," Charlie repeated, a little louder this time so he'd actually understand her. She stood up from her seat and placed her hands on her hips, getting ready to pounce the moment he spoke. Her jaw clenched as she waited for him to speak.

"Nobody's paying me anything," Van sincerely answered after a few moments of dumbfounded silence. He was bewildered by what he was hearing. What on earth was going on?

"Yeah, sure! You just came over here because you wanted to be nice!" she sarcastically spit back. She curled her fingers into fists, feeling her nails dig into her skin as she added, "That's probably the biggest load of crap I've heard in a long time. Nobody ever comes up to me just because they wanna be nice. They said something to get you to come over here. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm nobody's charity case, so piss off before I become violent." With that, Charlie turned around, glaring at Leo for not telling her what Stella and Evie had planned to do.

Van was quick on his feet, making a hasty exit towards the backstage area and crossing paths with Stella and Evie in the process. He gave them a confused shrug that they returned and sped up to get out of there as fast as possible. There was no way he wanted to get into the crosshairs of an angry, drunk woman, especially one like Charlie. He'd just wait to see what happened after her sister and her cousin talked to her.

Upon approaching the bar, Stella and Evie found out why Van had fled so quickly. Charlie was seething, and when she saw her two "siblings," she immediately went into flip out mode, albeit in Macedonian. "I can't believe you two! What the hell is your problem? I told you to stay out of my love life and leave it be, but you just had to go meddling where you didn't belong! How could you?"

"Whoa! Charlie, calm down. We didn't do anything. We just went to the bathroom. What are you talking about?" Stella replied in their native language.

"He came over here after you left!" Charlie yelled back.

"Charlie, we had NOTHING to do with it, we swear," Evie tried to reason with her cousin.

"Bullshit!" Charlie was adamant that they were somehow involved in this and wouldn't give up until they proved her wrong. "What would a guy like that see in someone like me to actually want to introduce himself?"

"Maybe he really was being nice," Stella suggested. "I don't know! But there are nice guys out there. What if he's one of them? Seriously, Charlie, when we say we're not going to mess with your love life, we won't. Have we ever? Answer me that before you get even more pissed off."

Charlie sat on the barstool refusing to look at her sister as she contemplated the answer to her question. It was true, neither she nor Evie had ever tried to mess with her love life. They had messed with her about such things, but never went through with them. "No," she almost inaudibly mumbled. It suddenly hit her that she'd just made the biggest mistake in her entire life. "Son of a bitch!" Charlie cursed herself in English for being so stupid. "I'm a fucking idiot!"

Both Stella and Evie stared at her. "Charlie, what did you do?" Evie cautiously asked.

"Oh, my God!" she crossed her arms over the bar and let her head fall into them.

"What did she do?" Evie posed the question to Leo, figuring she'd tell her.

Leo shook her head as she started to explain Charlie's reaction when Van sat down next to her. Stella and Evie were shocked by what they'd heard and immediately slapped Charlie's across the shoulder for her rudeness.

"Charlie! That was mean!" Stella scolded. "Van was trying to be nice, and you said all that stuff to him? Go and apologize, right now!" she ordered, trying to pull her sister off the barstool, but she wouldn't budge.

Charlie looked up at her with apologetic eyes but said, "Oh, God, no! I can't do that! I just made a complete ass out of myself! I can't just go over and apologize to him!"

"Fine, then we'll just get his number and you can call him and apologize to him if that'll make you feel more comfortable. But any way you look at it, you're going to say you're sorry," Evie replied, grabbing her purse and making her way towards where she last saw Van heading.

"EVIE! NO!" Charlie yelled after her, but her cousin had already crossed half the room and was headed towards the backstage area to find Van. When she realized that her efforts were futile, she turned around and chugged the last of her Long Island Iced Tea and ordered another, hoping to drown out her stupidity with alcohol. She didn't care if she stumbled into the house again. Tonight she just wanted to forget everything that happened.

"You can be so retarded sometimes," Stella told her sister as she sighed and rubbed her back.

"But we still love you," Leo replied.

"Whatever," Charlie mumbled, waiting for the alcohol to take its full effect.

Evie had already made her way to the backstage area where Van and Deaq were talking about what had transpired in the last couple of minutes while Van was at the bar. "This is going to be a lot harder than I expected. I was thinking she'd like to have someone compliment her and talk to her, but I was so wrong," he was saying. "She shot me down before I could say one word to her. She even asked me if Stella and Evie paid me off to talk to her. This girl is delusional!"

"Well, she's got her reasons," Evie interrupted as she strode up to them. Both Van and Deaq turned in her direction.

"Hey, Evie," Deaq replied. "What's up with your cousin?"

"Did we not tell you Charlie has low self esteem?" she shot back playfully.

"I didn't realize it was that low," Van muttered, running his hand through his hair.

"Don't worry, Stella and I managed to convince Charlie that we had nothing to do with it. She feels like a total jackass. I told her she had to apologize to you, and since she's too chicken shit when it comes to doing it in person, I told her I'd get her your phone number so she could call you," Evie explained. "Just don't expect it any time tonight. She's getting trashed again. I gotta get back there and do some damage control before she passes out and falls off the barstool."

"Has she considered AA?" Van asked as he grabbed a napkin off one of the tables and began to scribble down his number with a pen Deaq handed him.

"You bring that up and you're opening Pandora's Box," Evie warned as he gave her the napkin. "Once this is all over, we're putting her into AA, whether she likes it or not. We know she's out of control, so please, let us worry about that. You just worry about getting close to Charlie and catching Sterling."

Van sighed, watching Evie make her way back to her friends and family. It was hard for him to just sit back and watch someone spiral out of control, no matter who that person was. Remembering what had happened with his mother, he didn't want to have to relive it with Charlie. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, not wanting to thinking about it either. Now wasn't a time to be trudging up a past he would rather forget.

Just as he and Deaq were about to make an exit through the back door, Van felt a hand on his shoulder. He swiveled around thinking Evie had come back to tell him something but found that it was a short little fat man with greasy brown hair. "Van Strummer?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Van replied, hoping he hadn't heard anything that went on between himself and Evie.

"Hi, my name is John Woodrow. I'm a talent scout for Zeus Records. I just wanted to say, you definitely have potential," the little fat man said as he reached into the pocket of his brown blazer and pulled out a wrinkled business card, completely ignoring Deaq as he stood beside Van. "I'd like you to stop by my office tomorrow. I've got a very good feeling that my boss will love to meet you."

"Awesome," Van answered, taking the card and smiling back at the man. "Any preferred time you'd like me to come or is anytime fine?"

"Anytime is fine," Woodrow said. "Well, it was nice meeting you." The man stuck out his hand and Van shook it.

"You too," Van replied as Woodrow scurried off back to the bar. He looked over at Deaq and held up the business card with a big grin on his face. "We're in."

Evie returned to the bar, the napkin proudly displayed in her hand as she watched Charlie and Leo down a shot of Tequila. The pair began to giggle as they slammed down their shot glasses and asked the bartender for one more round.

"Heeey! Eeeevvviiieeee!" Charlie's drunken side was coming out. "Come on, take a shot with us!" she added, handing her the glass Tequila that they had ordered for her after she left. Evie wearily took the glass and waited for the other two to hold up theirs for a toast.

"What should we make this one to?" Leo asked.

"To me getting Van's number," Evie proudly replied, dangling the napkin in their faces. "Here you go Charlie. Don't lose it." Instead of giving it to her cousin, she handed the piece of paper to Stella as her glass clinked with that of the other two drinkers.

"Fuckin' A!" Charlie happily called out, too drunk to realize what Evie was saying, and downed her shot.

Evie nudged Stella and whispered, "How much has she had to drink?"

"Five Long Islands and three Tequilas," her cousin answered.

"Time to get out of here, then," Evie declared, placing her shot glass on the bar and grabbing Charlie's arm. "Come on, Cuz, we need to go home. You're way too drunk for your own good."

"Okay," Charlie didn't protest as Leo grabbed her other arm and helped to hoist her off the barstool. They dragged her drunken ass out of the bar and placed her in the back of Stella's Navigator with Leo and Evie to make sure she didn't get sick before they made it home.

"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Stella sighed as she slammed the door shut and turned on the car. What was she going to tell their mother this time? It really didn't matter anymore, so long as they got Charlie through the front door without waking anyone up, everything would be fine.

* * *

I just wanna thank everyone for their continued support and for reading this fic. I really can't be any more appreciative. Sorry it took so long to update. Too many things going on in my life, and my internet went poopie a few days ago. Had to get a new modem. But all's good and well now, and I finally found some free time.

simbagirl: I love it when Billie's messes with Van's head! It's just a riot! He is so her bitch sometimes. I'm glad you're liking the story so far. I hope this part was just as good. Thanks for the review!

prplerayne: Yep, Van's totally made Billie's week by just coming to work. Hehe, he can be such a poor, sad soul sometimes. It's pathetic, how he manages to just walk into things. Lovely, right? Oh, and I'm not done with Charlie's mom just yet. You'll really see how much of a special kind of bitch she is in coming chapters. Thanks for sticking with me and enjoying every minute of the ride. And thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

fan4fastln: Thank you for betaing for me! I can't keep thanking you enough for the help. The muse is really starting to bug me because I've been so busy lately with work, school, and family (relatives have been around all weekend and whatnot), that I haven't been able to keep up with her! I mean, she's just nuts right now! I can't wait to show you what's coming in the next few chapters. Hehe... Glad you're loving the imagery. That's one of my favorite parts to write. There will hopefully be more scenes like the one between Charlie and her dad. Those I find to be the most meaningful because they let you take a peek inside the character's life and leave you with some clues as to where I'm possibly going with the story. Ooh, I've said to much! Must continue with other reviewers! Thanks again!

FoxyWombat: I've always been a fan of unconventional. I hate doing things by the book. If I can break out of the mold, I will. Like Deaq once said, "I cross the double line every chance I get." Ooh, Chicago! You my girl! Totally friggin awesome! Hehe... I just can't get over that. Hope life isn't too busy for you. I'm glad you're enjoying the background info. Thanks for reviewing!

The Unsigned: Thank you for hitting me up and reading my fic even though you're not reviewing. But please do! Feed my muse. She gets really hungry for reviews sometimes, especially when she's kinda pissed at me and doesn't wanna help me write the story. But you don't have to. I appreciate you just reading. Thank you so much!

Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter. Charlie is definitely a character. Hope the first impression wasn't too harsh, especially with the drinking and the 'tude. Don't worry, it gets better next chapter. I tried to create a character that many of you could relate to. I hope it's working. If not, please tell me. I'm always open for suggestions. Thanks again for your continued support of my writing. I really couldn't be more grateful.

Stay tuned, more story coming soon!


	4. The In

**Chapter 4: The In **

_Questions flew  
__And words were hurled into the air  
__And when the smoke had cleared  
__I saw you lying there  
__I used my words like bullets in a gun  
__To pick your ego off like skeet flung  
__In the gallery of fools  
__Too many words come from my mouth  
__I wish would remain unsaid  
__Oh I've had to eat them all and now I must confess  
__It was a silly thing to say to you  
__It was a silly thing to say to you I know  
__-"An Apology" Sixpence None The Richer _

"Good morning, Van," Woodrow greeted as the boys strode into the Zeus Records building a few blocks from Rodeo Drive early that next morning for their meeting with Hunter Sterling. The little fat man in his dark grey ill fitting suit was waiting for them in the reception area, ready to scurry them to his boss's office.

"John, this is my manager, Deaq," Van introduced his sidekick as he put down his guitar case to shake the man's hand.

"Oh, hello," Woodrow replied as he extended his hand for a quick shake, the disdain present all over his face. He didn't like the fact that Van had representation. That always caused problems in the long run. It would have been better if he'd come alone because then they could set him up with a manager of their choosing, but he could deal with Deaq later.

"I'm only here to make sure my client's best interests are kept in mind," Deaq said with a cocky smile, knowing exactly what the other man was thinking. Besides, there was some extra business he was there for, Woodrow just didn't know it. Right after they'd left the bar last night, he'd gotten a call from Sterling about meeting him the next morning at the office so they could discuss a little business. How funny it would be when he found out that his new prospect was being managed by a man much like himself. It was definitely a plus for their case.

"Well, gentlemen, if you'll follow me," Woodrow directed as he started to walk down the long, white walled hallway that led past several spacious offices on the ground floor of the building, the last of which being the largest with huge carved oak doors. He knocked once and they immediately opened, revealing the expanse of the office. It was the length of the building with a large glass conference table to the right and a glass desk to the left. Like the rest of the place, it was also white walled, with black leather couches across from the doorway and several black and white paintings by post modern painters.

Hunter Sterling swiveled around his black leather chair, a broad, toothy smile plastered across his smug face. "Welcome," he greeted his guests. "Please, take a seat." He pointed to the two grey plastic chairs in front of his desk. Van and Deaq took their seats as Woodrow made his way to a spot behind his boss. "Woodrow tells me you have incredible talent," Sterling directing his voice towards Van. "I'd like to hear it."

"Yes, sir," Van answered, trying to sound like the obedient lap dog that was ready to do anything in order to get a record deal. He grabbed his guitar from its case and pushed back his seat for proper spacing between him and the desk. After strumming a few chords to get the tuning right, he began to play the song he'd played the night before at the bar.

He might have only played one verse and the chorus, but Sterling was already nodding his head, dollar signs lighting up in his eyes as a cocky smile crossed his lips. The man slapped his hands together and said, "You know what, I don't need to hear anymore. I want you in the studio as soon as possible, provided you sign a contract first."

Sterling reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a large stack of stapled papers. He pushed them over towards Van, but before he could even lay a hand on them, Deaq reached over and grabbed them from him. Van pretended to give him a scowl and sat back in his seat, his guitar still lying across his lap. "I need to look at these before you sign anything," he said, making it sound as if he really was his manager.

"And you are?" Sterling sourly asked as he glanced over at Deaq.

"I'm his manager," was the answer, "Deaqon Hayes."

A thoughtful look came across Sterling's face, the name ringing a loud bell in his mind. "Woodrow, would you please excuse us?" he told his employee.

"But…" Woodrow began to say before Sterling waved his hand, telling him he was no longer welcome in this discussion. The little fat man quickly shut up, but not before shooting a look of anger and contempt at the two men sitting across from his boss, especially Deaq.

"Bye, bye, Woody," he cockily replied, waving his hand for emphasis. The man scurried out of the room, closing the door and leaving them in peace, even though he was absolutely livid that he was getting kicked out of his own meeting. "What is that guy's problem?"

"He doesn't know when he needs to leave," Sterling answered. "So, you're the man Aquarius was telling me about. How convenient you're representing Van here."

"Don't treat him like an unsuspecting idiot. He is my partner," Deaq said. "He might have musical talent, but he's also got talent in making money off any kind of drug you give him. You sign him, and it's a twofer."

Both Van and Deaq could see the dollar signs going cha-ching in Sterling's head. They didn't think his smile could get any bigger until it did the moment he realized just how much money he'd be making off this contract. Not only was he getting a great artist, he was also getting a couple of drug pushers who probably knew what they were doing. But first thing's first, he still had to check up on them and make sure they were who they said they were. Even with Aquarius vouching for them, he still needed the security that they were only working for him. Besides, there was something about Van that he just couldn't put his finger on. He'd sensed it when he walked into the room and even more so when he started to play the guitar and sing, but only now was it really beginning to sink in.

"I'll tell you what. You hang on to that contract for a couple of days. After I've done my homework on you two, I'll call you," Sterling said as he leaned back in his chair. "Thanks for coming, gentlemen; I hope we'll be doing business soon." He was about to let them go, but added, "And Van…"

Van looked up as he was packing away his guitar. He knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time before Sterling recognized him. He'd been dreading this moment ever since he woke up that morning. Van could only hope he wasn't going to say anything that would potentially jeopardize the case.

"You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you," Sterling continued, the smile growing on his face. "I was wondering when you would come around. I'm glad you finally did. Now I can make double the money off your pretty boy looks."

Van nodded and turned to go, a scowl present on his face as he walked out of the expansive office and down the hall with his partner. As they passed the reception area, Woodrow was leaning against the desk talking to a secretary. When she looked up and smiled at the two men who passed by, the one with the guitar grabbing her attention easily, he turned around and angrily stared at them as they walked through the front doors and to their car. He'd find out what had happened behind closed doors soon enough. If there was one thing John Woodrow didn't like, it was secrets, especially when it concerned his commission.

"That was my other reason for not signing with him," Van said once they reached the car. He slid his guitar case into the backseat of the yellow GTO they'd taken from the Candy Store that morning and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Now I really do understand," Deaq replied. He wouldn't want to sign with a guy like that either. Sterling was just looking to make a quick buck. He didn't care about the music. If it sounded good, he'd sign it hoping to get a good return. Van had talent, but letting a guy like this run his career would have ruined it before it even got started. Maybe he had made the right decision in finishing school after all.

* * *

It was well past noon when Charlie awoke the next day. Her sister was already at the foot of her bed holding a cup of water and an aspirin. "Ooohh," Charlie groaned as she rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes, the light stinging like daggers going straight through her brain. This was definitely one of those awful hangovers she absolutely hated having. She was just thankful that it was a weekend and not a weekday. Her boss probably would have killed her if she hadn't made it to work again, even though she knew Charlie was having quite a few personal problems. "What the hell happened last night?" 

"Enough to be sorry for," Stella replied as she thrust the pill and beverage into her sister's hand. She looked unhappy and quickly gave he reasons why. "You pulled some really stupid shit last night. Not only did you manage to get completely annihilated, but you probably scared off the only guy who's ever been interested in you."

Charlie was quite for a moment, trying to think back to what exactly happened when it suddenly hit her with the force of an atomic bomb. "Fuckin' A!" she grumbled, throwing her red striped comforter over her head. She definitely remembered what had happened the night before between her and Van, the singer from the bar. If she had ever felt any stupider in her life, she couldn't think of the time.

"You're not getting off the hook that easy," Stella answered, pulling the comforter away from Charlie's face and throwing her phone at her along with the napkin Evie had given her. "You're gonna call him right now and apologize to him."

Charlie sat up, instantly regretting it as her head began to spin, but she managed to stay upright as she downed the aspirin and the water. "Why do you want me to call him so bad? I fucked it up. He's probably just gonna hang up on me when I tell him who I am," she said, placing the cup on her nightstand.

It took a couple of moments for Stella to figure out what to tell her sister and make it seem like a genuine comment. She hadn't been expecting her to be so resistant this early in the afternoon, especially after a night of heavy drinking. Usually Charlie was pretty compliant when she had a hangover. But today was somehow different. "What if he doesn't?" Stella asked.

Charlie stared at her skeptically then let out a laugh. "Yeah, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard," she sarcastically shot back.

"Come on, Charlie, quit being an ass. We're sick of seeing you so miserable. You need something to take your mind off everything that's going on," Stella kept going, trying to convince her sister (and herself) with all the bull shit she was saying. "Just call him. If he hangs up, I was wrong and you were right. And if he doesn't, I'll shut up and leave you alone."

Charlie was still skeptical, but Stella's proposition was pretty good. Besides, it was only a phone call. What could be so bad about a phone call? So what if she got hung up on? She could just bitch and moan all she liked about it later that day. And if he didn't… Well, that was something Charlie would think about after she made the phone call. Picking up the phone and the napkin, she began to dial the numbers written on the thin piece of paper in her trembling hand. "Happy?" she asked her sister as it began to ring.

The phone continued to ring, making Charlie all the more anxious. After the fourth ring, she was getting ready to hang up when someone answered, "This is Van." A shocked expression came across her face as her jaw dropped.

Stella scooted closer to her sister for moral support as she urged her to answer back. "Say something!" she whispered.

"Hi, Van?" Charlie finally said after the shock wore off.

"Yeah, who's this?" he politely replied.

"This is Charlie, the, um, bitch from the bar last night," she answered, soon after feeling Stella slap her on the arm for the comment.

"Ah, I remember you," he said with a small laugh. "Your cousin said you'd be calling me to apologize."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about what I said. It's just one of those things that happen when I start drinking. I make the wrong assumption and end up scaring people off. I just wanted to apologize for my actions. I never meant to hurt you or anything," Charlie kept apologizing. She could feel the blush spreading out all over her body. This conversation was really getting to the best of her. He hadn't hung up on her yet. Maybe Stella was right about him being a nice guy.

"Hey, no worries; I figured you were drunk. I've done stupid things drunk, too," Van replied. She could almost hear the smile in his voice. "There was this one time a few of the guys took me out. They had me drinking Boiler Makers all night and riding a mechanical bull. I stumbled into work the next morning and my boss was so pissed."

Charlie couldn't help but laugh. Even Stella was giggling, using her hand to cover her mouth so she wouldn't be too loud. "Yeah, been there, done that, and then some," Charlie said. "I think the stupidest thing I've ever done drunk has to be the time my friends and I were at this house party. We were playing Circle of Death, and I ended up at the end of every waterfall. I think I probably drank a twelve pack in less than an hour. I was so drunk I actually got sick, stayed in the bathroom for about ten minutes, then went back and did another waterfall before I finally passed out on the bathroom floor. My sister told me it took one of our best friends and his brother to drag me out of there and lay me on the couch. You wanna talk about pissing off your boss; I didn't get to work until almost closing time that afternoon! And I was hung over as hell!"

Van was laughing from the other end. Charlie definitely felt more at ease now than she ever expected. She even leaned back against the headboard of her bed, her sister completely forgotten. Once Van had contained himself, he asked, "So, Charlie, that's an interesting name for a girl. How'd you get it?"

"It's my nickname. I really don't like my real name," she confessed.

"What's your real name then?" he continued his interrogation.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Charlie coyly replied. "There are two things I never tell a guy: my weight and my real name."

Van chuckled, "I thought a woman never told her age and her weight."

"I'm not like other women," she answered, "tomboy through and through. So, what about you, Van. That's an interesting name you got there. What's it short for?"

"Donovan," he said without hesitation.

"Wow, straightforward, aren't you?" Charlie asked. "I thought I was going to have to twist your arm for a second there."

"I believe in telling people like it is. I don't like to sugar coat things unless you ask me to," Van replied.

"I hate it when people sugar coat things! It pisses me off! Its like, 'Just tell me! I can handle it! I'm not a baby!' Drives me nuts!" she empathized. "I think they do it because I'm a girl."

"You sound like my boss," Van said. "She hates being treated girly, and she'll kick your ass if you even try to, which she's about to do judging by the look on her face. I'd better go before she comes over here and hurts me."

"Oh, Van, afraid of a girl?" Charlie teased.

"If you ever get to meet Billie, you'd be afraid of her too," he condescendingly replied.

"Alright, then, I'll let you go. It was really nice talking to you. Again, I'm sorry for anything and everything I said at the bar last night," Charlie apologized again, getting ready to hang up.

"It's okay. Quit apologizing. Everyone gets drunk and says stupid things," Van said. "Hey, can I call you again some time? I really enjoyed talking to you."

Charlie was caught off guard for a moment. Unable to figure out what to say, she asked, "Really?"

"Yeah, you're cool to talk to, I mean, after the initial bitchiness," Van joked.

"Oh, yeah, ha ha. That's so funny I forgot to laugh," Charlie sarcastically remarked. She knew he was just joking around with her as she had with him earlier and didn't take the comment to heart.

"So I'll call you later?" It was more of a question than a reply.

"Yeah, sure, any time. I've always got my phone on me," she said.

"Alright, bye," Van said.

"Bye," Charlie replied as she hung up her cell phone and pressed it up against her chest. The smile on her face was wider than any Stella had ever seen. She looked truly happy for the first time in four years.

"Super flirt," Stella blurted as she got up off Charlie's bed and sat down at her desk chair.

"Shut up! I am not!" her sister tried to defend, but without success.

"Then what did you call that?"

"A rational conversation," Charlie answered, "with a few semi flirtatious comments thrown in for the hell of it."

"Ooooh!" Stella cooed. "Charlie's got a boyfriend!"

"Stella! Shut up! What ever happened to you leaving me alone if he did answer the phone?"

"We didn't shake on it."

"Bitch!"

Stella made an exaggerated gasp as she replied, "Charlie! Such naughty words!" She ended up getting a pillow thrown at her face for the comment and started to laugh. "Alright, I'll leave you alone! Now get dressed so we can go out and have some fun today! Evie and Leo will be here soon, and if you're not ready by the time they get here, we're gonna leave you." She stood up, throwing back the pillow, and made her way out of her sister's room.

Charlie was feeling much better now that she'd had that conversation with Van. Besides, the aspirin was definitely helping curb her hangover and allow her to get to her feet. She stretched for a couple of moments and threw off last night's outfit, looking through her closet to find a fresh one. Today she'd try something new: a black glitter tube top with a diagonal cut at the bottom and a pair of well worn blue jeans. It was nice to break old habits and wear something that matched her happy mood for once. Stella, Evie, and Leo would give her hell about it for the rest of the day, but she didn't care.

* * *

I'm exhausted tonight, so I'm gonna keep this really short. First off, I wanna thank my betas, fan4fstlne and prplerayne, for looking over my story and making sure it's coming along as I've planned. You guys are totally awesome. Second, I wanna thank everyone who's been reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it. I wish I could do individual reviews tonight, but I'm just way too tired. Thank you everyone who doesn't review too. Just that fact that you're reading is enough to make me happy, but please do review. My muse doesn't like me at the moment, so pretty please, leave a comment. Hopefully it won't take me another several weeks to post another chapter. It's midterm time, so I'm busy as hell with school and life in general. Besides that, my friend is FIANLLY moving back to town after his six month absense, so that's gonna add even more craziness to my life. Thanks for understanding, everyone. More story coming soon!


	5. Beauty Is Skin Deep

**Chapter 5: Beauty Is Skin Deep **

_My insides are turning inside out  
__Leaving my heart, my flaws all hanging out  
__What's so interesting about little ol' me  
__All I see inside is so ordinary  
__I can't look at myself  
__I can't find nothing special hiding in me  
__I can't look at myself  
__You tell me it's there to see but all I see is so ugly  
__-"Ugly" Brie Larson_

"I swear, Charlie, if you look at your phone one more time I'm going to take it and throw it out the window!" Evie yelled from the driver's seat of her Denali when she noticed her cousin peek into her purse for the thousandth time that afternoon. They were now on their way back from Rodeo Drive after a day of shopping and were headed home to change and check out some hot club one of their other friends had told them about. Stella and Leo were in the back seat with Charlie riding shot gun looking as if she'd just seen someone die.

Of course they had all heard about her call to Van and had been happy for her, but right now she was getting beyond annoying with her incessant whining about how he hadn't called her yet. Even though the other three knew he'd be calling no matter what, it was still a hassle having to listen to Charlie bitch and moan about why her phone hadn't rung yet.

"But he still hasn't called!" Charlie was now whining. "I knew he was too good to be true. What guy would ever even wanna take a second glance at me?"

Stella couldn't take it anymore and reached over the seat to wrap her fingers around her sister's throat, shaking her almost violently as she yelled, "If you don't shut up, I'm going to kill you!" She let go, allowing Charlie to breathe a sigh of relief while Leo began to laugh so hard that tears streamed down her face. Charlie turned around and gave her sister the dirtiest look she could muster as she rubbed her neck.

"If you didn't have such a negative attitude about yourself, you'd see you're wrong," Evie replied. "I mean, come on, look at you! You look really hot today! And you can't tell me you threw on that outfit for no reason."

Charlie turned her head and looked out the window as the scenery whizzed past. She refused to answer because she knew her cousin was right. There was always a reason when she wore something nice, especially when it came to encounters with the male kind. Charlie would dress cute the next day thinking all was right in the world until something like this happened. Then the moping would start and all the dark colors and ill fitting clothes would come back out.

"He's going to call," Evie declared, turning on the radio just in time for one of Charlie's favorite songs, "For You I Will" by Teddy Geiger. "You've already initiated the first step, which is huge for you because it shows you've got confidence. Guys really like that. Just have a little faith now that he's going to call."

"Spare me the preachy mumbo jumbo bullshit," Charlie shot back. She wasn't in the mood for religion at the moment, so bringing it in would only serve to piss her off even more.

"Will you quit being a pessimistic bitch?" Evie retorted, getting just as fed up with her cousin. She really wanted to reach over and slap her right now.

"Fuck you," Charlie growled.

Evie knew she should back down, but that never stopped her from getting the last word. "Whatever, Charlie," she mumbled. "But when he calls you later on tonight, I'm gonna be the first one to say I told you so."

"Yeah, if he calls, which he won't!" Charlie shouted.

"Why don't you think he's going to call you? Didn't he say he would?" Evie fought back. She was determined to get through to her cousin no matter what, and if it meant asking stupid questions and getting stupid answers, she'd do it, just to find out why Charlie was being so negative about this.

"That never means shit! You remember what happened in Myrtle Beach that summer after we graduated from high school! I talked to that guy you and Abby set me up with for an entire night until almost four in the morning, after which he asked me for my phone number and told me he'd call me. He never did!"

"That's because he was a self centered jackass."

"And what about my senior year of college? Remember what happened with Brice? All that flirting and he just wanted to be friends!" Charlie was on the verge of tears having to trudge up all these old memories of heart aches gone by. Her voice had already cracked several times, but she continued even as the tears welled up in her eyes. "All guys are assholes! They don't care if you're smart or creative or funny… They only care about tits and ass! That's the bottom line! So fat girls like me will never have a chance with someone like Van while girls like you and Stella and Leo practically have to fight them off! I give up! To hell with Van, to hell with men in general, and to hell with love! It's nothing but a bunch of bullshit that corporate America came up with to sell cards and candy!"

The true anger and hatred Charlie felt towards the male population managed to silence everyone in the car. The other three just stared at her as she tried to hide her face in her arm, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn't want to deal with them right now even though she knew they were going to hound her with questions and suggestions and God knew what else.

Evie made the first bold move by placing her hand on her cousin's shoulder and gently rubbing it. Just as she was about to apologized, Charlie's phone began to ring. They all looked at each other as she whipped it out of her purse and stared at it hoping to see the number she so desperately wanted it to be.

* * *

The hotel bar was unusually empty that Saturday night, but Van was glad for the solitude. It had been a while since he'd had some alone time to think about things. And as he sat there contemplating his current case and trying to befriend Charlie Edwards, a familiar face sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. 

"Hillary," Van's surprised tone barely related the true astonishment at seeing the woman that was now sitting next to him. "It's… It's been a while." A while was an understatement. He hadn't seen her ever since he checked out of that same hotel over a year ago. They had gone on a date or two, but it didn't work out, especially since Van became so busy with his life, his job, and keeping his boss out of trouble that seeing someone just wasn't a good idea.

"I know," Hillary replied, keeping her tone light and cheery, as if she were seeing an old friend.

"You know, I have been meaning to call you, it's just that a lot of things happened…" Van tried to explain, but she cut him off.

"It's okay. You've got a really stressful job and you're under a lot of pressure, so maybe it was better that you didn't," Hillary said, smiling. Her hand dropped into her lap as they stared at each other for a long while. "So, what brings you here tonight? Meeting someone?"

Van smiled at her. Hillary was always so sweet and innocent when it came to the world around her. That's what had drawn him to her in the first place, aside from her plea for help, but that didn't matter anymore. She still seemed so innocent that no matter how secretive his job was, Van just wanted to spill his guts to her. He would have been able to stop himself from saying something at any other time, but tonight was different. Tonight there were too many things weighing on his mind that he just needed someone to talk to, someone who might give him a better perspective on how to handle it all.

"No, I'm just here to contemplate my current case. It kinda fell into my lap and I don't know what to do," Van answered. He swirled his Scotch on the rocks with a straw before downing the last of it and turned back to his companion. Just one look into Hillary's intense blue eyes was all he could take before everything else came spilling out. "I have to get close to this girl that isn't like any of the other women I've had to get close to while I've been undercover. She's, well… She's not really my type…" He paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to explain Charlie without making her out to be one of the ugliest chicks in the world when she really wasn't.

Hillary didn't wait for him to continue. She already had several questions for him. "She's fat, isn't she?" It came out as more of a statement than a question, which caught Van off guard. He looked up at her sharply, like a deer caught in headlights. She might not have known him that well, but she already knew many men like him.

"Um… Uh…" Van stuttered, still trying to get past her blatant observation. "Well, she isn't exactly thin."

Hillary laughed. This was exactly the type of answer she'd been expecting. She knew from the moment she'd set her eyes on Van that he was the picky type. "Oh, Donovan, you have so much to learn about women," she said. Hillary got a dirty look for that.

"Please don't EVER call me by my full name," Van grumbled as he motioned for the bartender to bring him another drink. It didn't stop her from smiling, though.

"Seriously, Van, if you wanna get close to this girl, you have to lower your standards. Nobody's perfect, not even me," Hillary continued. "All girls feel insecure about something, including yours truly."

Van gave her a strange look before asking, "What do you have to be so insecure about?"

"Plenty," was her answer. She wasn't about to elaborate. "For this girl, it's probably her weight. She's possibly never had a relationship, food is in all probability her best friend, and she more than likely doesn't have anyone to tell her that she is beautiful. You need to become that someone. You need to put aside your pride and see this girl for who she is, not what she is. Get past the fat and look on the inside. She just might turn out to be someone who has a lot in common with you. Who knows, you might even like her."

There was a doubtful look on Van's face by the time Hillary was done with her little speech. "And what makes you think that?" he asked.

"Personal experience," she replied with a wink and a smile. It didn't take long for that to click in Van's mind and he nodded his head as a smile appeared on his lips. "So, what's her name?"

"Charlie, and I've only met her once. Didn't go so well," he said. That got a sharp look from Hillary, especially after what they'd just discussed, and immediately Van knew he had to make sure she understood what had happened that night. "Not my fault, I swear. She was in a bad mood that night and blew me off."

"She blew you off?" Hillary asked in disbelief. Van nodded, and a smile crept onto her luscious red lips, turning into a full blown grin. After a moment, she began to laugh again, this time whole heartedly, and couldn't stop. "She blew you off! Oh, the irony!" He was glaring at her again as she replied, "I'm sorry, Van. I couldn't help it. That's every fat girl's dream."

"I'm glad you find it so funny," he retorted as the bartender finally came over with his drink. Van took a big swig of it and placed the glass on the wooden counter.

"How do you know you're on good terms with her now?" Hillary still wasn't through with her questioning yet. She was curious about how this would play out between Van and Charlie. There was nothing more interesting than watching someone she had always deemed a player try to get close to someone she always knew as a loser.

"She called me this afternoon while I was at work and apologized to me. I said I'd call her back," Van was saying as he downed the rest of his drink and glanced at her.

"And have you?"

He hesitated for a moment, "No…"

"Well, what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and call her back! She's probably had a nervous breakdown by now. The least you can do is ease her mind." Hillary felt like she needed to be this girl's advocate. If she didn't say something and encourage Van to make the next move, she feared for Charlie's mental health. God knew how she'd struggled when she was younger. Charlie just needed someone to believe in her, and hopefully Van would turn into that someone. She knew he wasn't a shallow person; it was at times he really didn't see what was in front of him. He just needed a push in the right direction.

"Okay, I'm calling her," Van replied as he took his cell phone out of his back pocket and began looking through his call log for Charlie's number. When he found it, he pressed the talk button and placed it against his ear, hoping Hillary was wrong. He'd hate himself if she was right.

After several rings, Van finally got an answer. "He… Hello?" Charlie's shaky, hesitant voice said. Almost instantly he knew something was wrong. She'd been crying. Over him? God, he hoped not.

"Hey, Charlie, it's Van," he finally replied.

"Van, hey!" her voice was getting stronger the more she talked. Something about her was changing. She was becoming a little more confident.

Van silently sighed with relief as he said, "Sorry it took so long for me to call you. I've been really busy today. How are you? Feeling better than last night?"

"I'm feeling much better, thanks," she answered. There was a long pause before she added, "So, what's up? Did Billie rip you a new one for being on the phone?"

"No, I'm still in one piece," Van replied. He could hear voices in the background and immediately started to feel uncomfortable, especially with Hillary breathing down his neck trying to listen in.

"So, what's up?" Charlie asked, sounding as if she didn't have a clue as to where to take this conversation.

"Nothing much… I got out of work early, so I headed over to one of my favorite bars to try to think of some new lyrics. I got an offer the other night from a record company who's interested in signing me." Van knew exactly where he was taking this. It was one step closer to getting Charlie to open up, and if he knew anything about women, curiosity was one of their biggest downfalls.

"Oh, wow! That's so awesome! Which one?" She definitely sounded excited. He hated to burst her bubble.

"Zeus Records," Van nonchalantly answered. There was silence from the other end; it was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was beginning to wonder if she'd hung up on him. Van felt compelled to say something else and added, "I still haven't said yes. I'm waiting to see if anyone else shows interest." He could hear the deep sigh of relief from the other end.

"That's… That's a good idea," Charlie replied. "It's always good to shop around before you sign a pact with the devil."

"A pact with the devil?" Van asked, even though he understood where her hatred was coming from. Hunter Sterling was an evil man, and if Van had been any normal person looking for their shot in the music industry, he would have taken her advice. But he wasn't, and his case depended on him getting signed to Sterling's label. He just hoped she wouldn't hate him after she found out he'd completely disregarded her cryptic warning. Even still, if anything was going to fly, he had to stay in character and play along with her. "Now that's something I've never heard before. What do you know, Charlie?"

"All I know is that Hunter Sterling isn't the nicest person in the world, so please, just keep looking before you make a decision," Charlie practically begged over the phone. He could almost picture the pleading as he sat there listening to the obvious pain in her voice.

"Alright," Van finally said. As he glanced up, he could see the very confused look on Hillary's face as she stared back at him in complete and utter bewilderment. "It's for the case," he mouthed to her and she nodded her head. "So, what are you doing tonight?" he asked Charlie, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh, um…" It sounded as if he'd caught her off guard. "Me and the girls are checking out some club tonight; Ryde, I believe."

In the background, Van could hear someone whisper, "Ask him if he wants to hang out with us." It put a smile on his face and almost made him laugh when he heard Charlie whisper back, "Shut up!"

"You know, my good friend is the owner of that club. If you want, I can call him up and have him put you on the VIP list," Van generously offered. He wanted to score as many brownie points with her as humanly possible. This was a great way to start. If he could butter her up with the club VIP invite, then maybe she wouldn't be so angry when she found out he'd signed with her step-father's label.

"Oh, my God! Really?" she practically squeaked. "That would be so awesome! Thank you!"

"Not a problem. Whose name should I put it under?"

"Charlie Edwards." She paused for a moment. "So, um… You, uh, wanna come hang out with us? I mean, it would just be kinda weird if four girls showed up to a club without the person who got them in."

"Are you asking me out, Charlie Edwards?" Van playfully questioned, glancing over at Hillary again to see the wide smile on her face. This little exchange was highly amusing to her, and she thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

"No…" Charlie shot back almost defensively. "I'm just asking you to hang out with us, that's all. A date is between two people. This is just a group of friends going out and having a good time." She sounded like she was really trying to convince herself that a friendly meeting would hopefully lead to other things.

Van knew he had to ease her mind about it and then prove to her that he was interested. "Alright, what time?" he asked.

"Um, some time around 11."

"Cool, so I'll meet you at Ryde, then."

"Awesome, see you there. Bye!"

"Bye." Van flipped closed his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

"See, you've got your foot in the door," Hillary immediately replied as he looked over in her direction. "You're already comfortable with talking to her on the phone. You see her as a person. I'm actually surprised, Van. Here I was thinking you'd turn out to be some shallow guy, but you really do have some depth to you," she complimented even though Van did shoot her a sharp look.

"Why does everyone think I'm shallow?" he suddenly asked.

Hillary shook her head but kept on smiling. Instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own, "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to go out? It's almost nine."

Van immediately looked down at his watch and realized she was right. "Shit!" he exclaimed, pulling out his wallet and throwing down a twenty beside his empty glass. "Thanks for the advice," he added, turning towards his companion and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "We should do this more often."

"No, we shouldn't," Hillary replied. "We've both got busy lives. You need to focus on your job because it's important and because I don't want to end up being another one of your marks."

Van knew what he was referring to. It all stemmed back to the first time they met and the incredibly crazy events that led to him suspecting her of poisoning him. She might have looked past it when they had dated, but that didn't mean she wasn't over it. "I'm still very sorry about that," he said in a low voice.

"The past is in the past," Hillary answered. "Don't worry about that anymore." They stared at each other for a couple of moments. She took his hand and squeezed it. "It was good to see you again, Van. Maybe one day we'll run into each other again."

"Yeah," he said, looking down at their interlocked fingers. Memories floated in and out of his mind of their first dance, their first kiss, and their first real date after she found out his true identity. But as she said, the past was in the past. It was no use mulling over it now. "Well, I'll see you around. Goodbye Hillary."

"Goodbye Van," she said, letting go of his hand and turning to walk out of the bar.

* * *

Hey, everybody! Sorry it took so long for me to update. It's been a HECTIC semester with midterms, a shitty spring break, and more homework than you can shake a stick at. Anyway, here's what I couldn't do last chapter: 

fan4fastln: Thank you soooooo much for all your help with this story. You've managed to catch so many of my mistakes, it still amazes me. I'm so glad to have fresh eyes to check it over and make sure I'm not going off into tangents. I've always believed that Van would take to singing like a fish to water. I mean, seriously, there have been several eps where I've seen him plucking away at a guitar, so I just had to write a fic about where that could possibly lead. I'm really glad you like the Van/Charlie relationship. You'll see really soon how they get together, and it'll be sweet. Just like candy! Hehe. Thanks for the review!

FoxyWombat: I hope life has calmed down! I know, midterms do totally suck, especially when you overestimate and then find out you totally screwed up... Yeah, not gonna get into that right now. So glad to be providing you with an escape from school. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

simbagirl: Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it. Where's your next update? BTW, I keep forgetting to email you... I know! I'm horrible! I'm so sorry! I hate school! Just 6 more weeks, 6 WEEKS! And I finally graduate! NO MORE TEACHERS, NO MORE BOOKS, NO MORE PENCILS, DIRTY LOOKS! LOL! Sorry, I'm very excited. Hehe. Thanks again.

Avillie: I was wondering where you got off to! I guess all that bugging finally paid off, hehe. Sorry. I'm a review whore. I think we established that in my last fic. LoL! I'm so glad the first chapter made you laugh. Those have been the best lines of the fic so far! They're hilarious! And Charlie's mom does have something to do with all this, I just have to figure out how deep it goes. I swear, I never seem to be able to focus sometimes when it comes to writing. My head goes all over the place, and I don't think things through. Don't worry, I'll figure it out. Till then, enjoy whateverI post and keep reviewing. I'll get back to the board one of these days... Life's been HECTIC! 6 more weeks and it'll finally calm down. What a sigh of relief that'll be. Thanks for reading! Glad you're enjoying.

prplerayne: My homie! Ahhh... Thank you for all your great suggestions when it comes to this story. They're REALLY helped me out a TON! And when's your next update coming? Soon, I hope. Poor Van... How long has Billie been in labor now? A few weeks? He's gonna die soon if you don't post more story! Hehe. Thanks for the review.

Shalimar1: Oh, YAY! You're reading it! I'm sooooo happy! And I'm always glad to give you any suggestions about writing. It's what I do second best (design being best). Just keep practicing. You'll learn with each and every new story you write. I've written at least 30 fics (most of which I can't post here cuz of the content), which is why I've gotten this far in my writing, but I still think there's room for improvement. There always is. Just keep doing it and you'll get better. Damn, I'm beginning to sound like an English teacher now. I gotta stop. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

The unsigned: You're all rock stars in my book! Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it. Please do review, though. But even if you don't, thank you.

More story coming soon (I hope).


	6. Second First Impression

**Chapter 6: Second First Impression **

_Like a movie scene  
In the sweetest dreams  
I have pictured us together  
Now to fell your lips  
On my finger tips  
I have to say is even better  
Than I ever thought it could possibly be  
Its perfect  
Its passion  
Its setting me free  
From all of my sadness  
The tears that I've cried  
I have spent all my life  
Waiting for tonight  
Oh... When you would be here in my arms  
Waiting for tonight  
Oh... I've dreamed of this love for so long  
-"Waiting For Tonight" Jennifer Lopez _

A line that stretched almost down the block was the first thing Charlie saw when she, Stella, and the others pulled up to Ryde that night. This place was hot, no wonder their friends were raving about it. The digital numbers on the clock radio mounted to the dashboard read 11:04 PM. Van was hopefully waiting for them outside. As they pulled up to the valet, it didn't take long for Charlie to spot him, having worn a burgundy button down silk shirt and a pair of deliciously tight brown leather pants, he was hard to miss.

The three valets standing outside the club opened their doors quickly and helped the girls out of their car. Evie and Leo were the first to emerge in their short black leather Prada skirts and almost matching halter tops (Evie's was a bright pink while Leo's was a warm green), while Stella and Charlie followed suit.

Van had turned to see the girls exit the Navigator and was shocked when he realized the last person to step out was Charlie. She looked so different from the disheveled woman he'd seen at the bar a couple days earlier. Her long brown hair with its red and golden highlights was down in cascading ringlets pulled away from her face and neck with a few glittery pins just above her ears. She wore a black strapless satin top with three red roses embroidered on the bottom right corner above the hip with a pair of well fitting jeans that seemed to accentuate her curves instead of make them seem as if they were about to pop out of place and one inch black strappy sandals. Even her makeup seemed flawlessly natural with just a little pink embellishment on the eyelids.

"You're staring," Stella whispered as she walked past him towards the door. She, too, was dressed like her cousin and her friend with a knee length jean skirt and an orange halter top.

Van quickly shook himself out of his daze when Charlie came up to him and said, "Hi."

"H… Hi," he stuttered, still unable to believe the transformation he'd just witnessed. "Wow, you look great tonight." A rapid blush came over the young woman's cheeks as she looked down at her feet, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. 'That's so cute,' he thought, smiling. Picking up the slack, he grabbed her arm and started to lead her into the club, the hundreds of people standing outside giving shouts of displeasure as the bouncer waved them in.

"This place is amazing!" Charlie commented as they walked into the large, expansive club. There was a huge crowd of people already dancing on the floor, the DJ spinning some of the best trance music she'd heard in a long time. "Thanks for getting us in," she added, turning towards him and letting go of his arm. It felt strange and at the same time quite nice.

"You're welcome," Van replied. The two of them joined Stella, Evie, and Leo by the bar where the three had gathered for drinks, Stella, of course, taking the non-alcoholic way out with a bottle of water while the other two ordered Cosmos. "So, what are you having?" he turned to Charlie and asked.

For the first time, she didn't have a clue what to get. After her not so stellar performance at the bar the other night, Charlie really didn't feel like drinking, but she took up his offer and replied, "The same as Evie and Leo." Van motioned for the bartender to whip up a Cosmo and a whisky sour.

As they waited for their drinks, Charlie glanced around the club, taking note of the modern décor and the upstairs VIP area. She hadn't noticed the two men that had walked up to Van in the process until she felt his hand on her shoulder as he said, "Charlie, I'd like you to meet Deaq, my manager, and Aquarius, my friend who owns the club."

"Oh, hi! Pleased to meet you," she replied, shaking hands with both of them. "This place is incredible! Thanks for inviting us in."

"I like this girl already," Aquarius said as he turned to Van. "She's cute, but not exactly your type."

"She's a friend," Van responded. "It's not like we're dating… yet."

Charlie immediately shot him a flabbergasted glance, unable to believe what he was saying. "What?" she asked.

"Well, I still don't know you well enough. Besides, you said it yourself, this isn't a date. This is a group of friends getting together to have a good time," Van paraphrased exactly what she'd told him earlier that evening.

Charlie whacked him playfully as their drinks were placed in front of them, but before she could even take a sip of hers, Leo and Evie were already dragging her towards the dance floor. "I'll be back!" she called over her shoulder. The three of them ended up in a very obvious spot on the dance floor, the small stage set in the center. They began to dance with each other, their hips swaying to the rhythmic beat of the trance music pulsing through the club.

"Mmm, she may be a big girl, but her curves are definitely kickin'! And look at the way she dances. Mmm MMM! Sexy!" Aquarius couldn't stop expressing his interest in the young woman.

"That's my sister you're talking about," Stella said as she slid over to the three men and propped her self against the bar, watching the three drinks from the corner of her eye.

"And who is this fine honey?" he replied, giving her the once over.

"Stella Edwards," she introduced herself without waiting for Van to do it. "Pleased to meet you."

"Believe me, the pleasure is mine," Aquarius answered, taking her hand and kissing it.

Stella gave him a sly smile as she eased her hand back to her side and looked over to Van. He was staring at Charlie again, as was Deaq. They both seemed to have thoughtful expressions on their faces, which was a perfect time to ask them what they were thinking. "Surprised Charlie cleans up well?"

"Yeah," Van replied, never taking his eyes off her.

"Who's the magician?" Deaq asked.

"Houdini," Stella sarcastically answered. She got a sharp look from him and smiled innocently. "She called my mother's stylist. I think he somehow managed to work a miracle tonight. The three of us never would have gotten her looking this good in a week, let alone less than two hours."

"That man deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor," Deaq remarked. "Talk about Miss Congeniality."

"Forget the Medal of Honor, he deserves an E! Golden Hanger Award," Van added. Both Stella and Deaq turned to look at him strangely. Deaq just shook his head afterwards, choosing to forget what his partner just said because he already knew the explanation behind it. Stella also chose to drop it since Charlie and the girls were coming back from the dance floor giggling, their arms wrapped around each other.

"Having a good time?" Stella asked, the smile still present on her face.

"Oh, my God, this is too much fun!" Leo exclaimed as she picked up her drink and took a good gulp from it, setting the glass back down on the bar. She soon grabbed Stella's hand and dragged her out to the dance floor, this time remaining on the outskirts of the crowd near the rest of the group. Charlie and Evie stayed back, preferring to sip their drinks and let the alcohol take effect before they headed over.

Evie was the first to finish her drink. Wasting no time, she headed back to the dance floor, but not before saying, "Come on, Van, you should join us. It'll be fun." She knew her cousin would never make the first move, and this was the perfect way to get the two of them to spend a little quality time together.

Charlie and Van looked at each other for a moment before he shrugged and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the dance floor even though she protested, saying she wasn't finished with her drink yet. He didn't care, though. This was the best time to find out what she was all about. He grabbed the glass out of her hand, gave it to Deaq, and proceeded to bring her closer to her group. Before they reached them, he swung her around so they were facing each other and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his body.

Gasping, Charlie froze. She didn't know what to do. Her mind was having a hard time processing all this information at once. But it didn't take long before they were swinging to the beat, their bodies becoming one among the sea of other dancers. His hands made their way down to her hips, resting on their gentle slopes as he moved with her, grinding slowly against her. She turned around, preferring to dance with her back against his chest, her eyes closed as the music overtook her body. The world seemed to melt away, leaving only them and the music, their bodies moving together in perfect harmony. His hands slowly crept to her thighs, but she did nothing to stop him. Instead, she laid her hands on top of his, guiding them to where she wanted them to stay, just below her hips.

They continued to dance for several more hours, not ever really taking a break, just swaying to the music, wrapped in each other's arms. It wasn't until Leo and Evie finally dragged them off the dance floor complaining that their feet hurt and they were starving that the two pulled away from each other.

"Oh, my God I'm so hungry!" Leo whined. "You know what I'm craving?"

She and Evie glanced at each other with wide smiles on their faces as they both replied in unison, "Denny's!"

"We haven't been to Denny's since we left Chicago," Evie said as she rested her body against a bar stool.

"Oh, I know!" Stella joined in, practically licking her lips. "We should go. I'm hungry for some cheese fries."

"Quit talking about food. You're making me hungry," Charlie quipped, finally joining in the conversation.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Leo declared, grabbing Evie and Stella by the hands and practically dragging them away from the bar towards the exit.

Van and Charlie glanced at each other, an awkward moment passing between them before Charlie mustered up enough courage to make the first move. "You, uh, wanna come with us?"

"They won't mind, will they?" Van had the courtesy to ask before he agreed to anything.

"Who, them?" Charlie pointed to the three girls making their way towards the door. "Of course not! Their motto is 'The more, the merrier' when it comes to group gatherings at any restaurant."

"Well, I kinda drove with Deaq," he replied, sounding as if he still wasn't sure. Van was just wondering how much she trusted him after those last few hours on the dance floor.

"What did I just say?" she sharply answered, a smile cracking on her light pink lips.

"The more, the merrier," Van repeated, also smiling. He couldn't help himself. Her smile was contagious, as was her energy. He couldn't believe how much there was to learn about this girl. She was a mystery, and unlocking every little piece had become an adventure, one Van was beginning to enjoy. "I'd better go find him, then," he said.

"I'll tell the others you guys are coming," Charlie replied as they both went their separate ways. "Oh, and if you see Aquarius, tell him thank you from all of us," she called over her shoulder.

Van nodded and disappeared in the crowd as she walked outside to where Stella, Evie, and Leo were waiting for the valet to bring them their car. "Van's coming," Charlie announced, surprising the three of them as they turned to see her walk up. "And so is Deaq."

"Sweet!" Leo replied in that excited tone when new people joined their group. To her, it was always fun to have a crowd.

"And who invited who?" Evie asked, raising her eyebrows at Charlie, wondering who really had initiated this little invitation.

"Me," Charlie proudly answered. "That's right, be proud of me. I made the first move."

"Go Charlie!" Stella exclaimed as she patted her sister on the back.

As the other two were congratulating her, Van and Deaq emerged from the club and joined them. They quickly dropped the conversation and focused their attention on the newcomers.

"Aquarius says you're welcome and hopes you'll come back again," Van said as he planted himself beside Charlie. "He's permanently putting you guys on the VIP list."

All four of their jaws dropped as they stared at him in total shock and amazement. "No way," Leo said in disbelief. She practically jumped on Van as she hugged him.

"Whoa, hey," he replied, nearly falling over from the force. But he somehow managed to stay upright until she let go. "Um… You're welcome," Van added, not knowing what to say to that.

"Thank you!" Charlie said for the rest of them as their car pulled up. As they were getting in, one of the most important questions neither of the girls had thought to ask hit her. "Where's the nearest Denny's?" All four of them looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"Just follow us," Van answered just as their car, a 1968 forest green Ford Mustang Fastback, pulled up to the curb.

Charlie craned her neck, getting a good look at the car as her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Is that… Is that… Steve McQueen's car… from 'Bullitt?'" She could barely get the words out as she continued to stare in utter disbelief.

Van wanted to laugh out loud as he watched her mouth fall open while she ogled the car from the window of the Navigator. It looked as if she'd fall out of she leaned any farther. He'd learned not to be so surprised when a woman mentioned she'd heard of the movie, let alone see it or liked it. Billie had been the first he'd ever encountered who actually did, so finding someone else was bound to happen. He just wasn't expecting it to be Charlie.

"Yeah, it is. We're restoring it for our boss after she wrecked it last year," Van finally said. "We wanted to test the engine tonight and see how it was running."

"She wrecked Steve McQueen's car from 'Bullitt?' That bitch!" Charlie immediately felt her heart break. How could anyone wreck such an incredible piece of Americana? I made her blood boil.

"Not once, but twice," Van replied.

"Oh, don't tell me that! It breaks my heart!" Charlie feigned heartache as she placed her hands over her chest. Van couldn't help but chuckle at her response. He was really beginning to like this girl. They already had so much in common.

"And you're done," Stella said as she started to roll up Charlie's window, startling her into falling against the passenger's seat of the large SUV.

"Hey!" Charlie nearly shouted as she and the others began to laugh, including Van. "That was so mean!"

"Whatever, Charlie; I'm hungry. I wanna get going," Stella retorted, putting on her hardest face.

"Just follow us," Van repeated his earlier statement, finally parting ways and getting into the driver's seat of the Mustang. He revved the engine to show Charlie it was working quite well, making her heart flutter in her chest just hearing it rumble. He pulled out in front of the Navigator and the group was finally on its way to get food. As luck would have it, the closest Denny's was only a couple blocks away from the club.

It didn't take long after being seated that the stories of days gone by started to spill out and the laughing to being. The host had put them in a round corner booth close to the back of the restaurant, knowing exactly what kind of ruckus they'd be causing. Deaq ended up at one end with Van sitting next to him, followed by Charlie, Leo, Evie, and Stella. From almost the moment the waiter left with their drink order did the first story begin.

"Oh, my God, I think this is the first time I've ever seen Charlie walk out of a club on her own accord," Leo began. "How many drinks did you have, Charlie?"

"One, maybe," her friend shrugged, but quickly turned the tables as she added, "And if you even think about taking this where I think you're taking this, I'm gonna kill you."

"I would never!" Leo made an exaggerated and overly sarcastic reply as she put her hand to her chest trying to pretend she was appalled. But almost immediately, she said, "There was this one time we were at White Star in Chicago, and Charlie got so piss drunk, we had to get two of the bouncers to drag her ass out of the club to Stella's car."

"Leo!" Charlie sharply squeaked as she smacked her friend in the shoulder. But she'd get her revenge soon enough. "That was nothing compared to the time we went to Rooney's place and you started to do double shots of Jager." She turned to the boys and continued, "Not only did she drink the Jager, but she also had half of Rooney's 7-7, and that was one big glass, too! I'm not talking about a shot; I'm talking about half a pint! In an hour, Leo was in the front yard pucking her guts out on the lawn and the sidewalk! We actually had to change her shirt because it was covered in vomit. The next morning when she woke up, she couldn't remember what happened and freaked out when she saw she wasn't wearing her shirt from the night before! But the funniest memory I have from that night is seeing her sprawled out on the sidewalk, face down mind you, holding the bottle of Jager in her hand!"

It got them all laughing, including Leo, who had been giving Charlie the evil eye all the way through her story up until the end, when she burst as did the others. They continued with the drinking stories for at least another hour, the waiter finally getting in their food order about half way in. Even that was a laugh since Stella dared Leo to ask the waiter if they had any carrot cake without the carrots. He'd given her a weird look before she started to laugh and made her food selection.

The conversation shifted to stupid, crazy, random things they had all done, like the time Van ended up stopped at a red light beside none other than Dale Earnheardt Jr. and tried to street race him, but stalled the car instead. That put the girls in stitches and plenty of smart remarks followed until their food was brought out. All the girls, Charlie included, ordered cheese fries while the guys had breakfast. Hell, it was almost five in the morning, so why not, they figured. Besides, if they didn't eat now, who knew when Billie would let them out of the Candy Store to grab something?

Their conversation died down to a few minor comments about favorite foods and whatnot, but in general, all were too engrossed with their meals to say a word to each other. That was until Evie finished before all the others did and started to play with the paper wrapper from her straw. She really wasn't paying attention to anyone as she rolled it into a ball and began to flick it around her area like a little soccer ball. Giving it a little too much force with her finger, it flew across the table and hit Van snack dab in the middle of the forehead, prompting him to look up sharply, wondering what the hell just happened. Leo and Stella immediately started to laugh, seeing it unfold before their eyes, while Charlie clamped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from bursting out. It wasn't polite, after all, but it was still funny.

Van looked down, seeing the little piece of paper sitting on the table in front of him, and picked it up to take a good look at it. "Alright, who did it?" he asked, glancing around the booth and stopping on Evie, who was trying to look innocent even though everything about her screamed it was her fault. She immediately looked away as his gaze fell on her, folding her arms across her chest until she couldn't take it anymore and started to laugh. "Uh-huh… Okay… Two can play at that game!" Van said as he flicked the paper right back at her, but she dodged it before it landed anywhere on her body.

"Ooh, missed me!" Evie taunted.

"I'll get you! Mark my words!" he declared, grabbing his napkin and beginning to tear little pieces off of it. He wasn't about to get out done by a girl, which was how the paper war started.

It didn't take long for all the others to get involved and pick sides. Stella and Leo ended up with Evie while Charlie and Deaq stuck beside Van. Paper balls were thrown all over the booth, hitting everyone at least ten times and landing in drinks, left over food, and God knew where else. The waiter had come by once or twice to see if they wanted something and drop off the check, but after the second time, knew to stay clear from their table until they were gone after a paper ball hit him in the face.

What had stopped the fun was Van's cell phone going off. He put his hands up and yelled, "Time out!" as he reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. Evie did manage to get him one more time when he wasn't looking, but soon stopped when he answered the call.

"Where the hell are you two?" the voice of one pissed off female exploded from the phone.

Van pulled it away from his ear so he wouldn't go deaf and answered, "Eating."

"Eat faster!" she yelled again. "This is the third time this month that you two have been late! The paperwork won't do itself! Move your asses and get here immediately!"

Van rolled his eyes. That was the last thing he wanted to do today. "Yes, Mom," he shot back, irritated, and hung up before she could say another word. "So, Billie's getting ready to kill us if we don't get to work soon."

"Great," Deaq mumbled. "Another 36 hour shift."

"Aw, poor babies!" Leo cooed. "Cry me a river." She went to reach for the bill, but Van snatched it up before she even got close.

"I've got this," he said, taking out his wallet.

"Van," Charlie immediately spoke up, trying to snatch the little piece of paper away from him, but he quickly drew it back and handed it to Deaq. "No, you've done enough for us already. The least we can do is pay the bill."

"You can get it next time," he replied, nudging Deaq so he could get out. Before leaving the booth, Van left a wad of singles for the waiter, who in his opinion deserved it after putting up with them for so long and having been put through so much. The other followed suit and headed for the door, stopping to wait for him until the host gave him his change. They walked outside into the bright morning light.

"Thanks!" Stella, Evie, and Leo shouted as she made their way to the Navigator, leaving Charlie, Van, and Deaq standing in front of the restaurant. Deaq quickly got the hint that they needed some time alone and also walked to his car to wait for Van.

"Thanks for an amazing night," Charlie said, feeling a slight blush color her cheeks. "I had a lot of fun."

"I had fun, too," Van replied. "We should do this again some time."

"Totally," she agreed, that beautiful smile returning to her lips.

"You should do that more," he said.

"Do what?"

"Smile."

Charlie couldn't stop the blush from returning to her cheeks as she looked down at her feet. The butterflies began to flutter in her stomach as Van grabbed her hand, tugging it lightly to get her attention. She looked up just as he brought it to his lips and kissed it. Their eyes met, and for a moment, the world seemed to melt away. Charlie was in heaven. This felt like it was coming out of one of those old romance movies she used to watch, but even better. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure it was real because it seemed too much like one of her more lucid dreams.

"Um… Would you, uh, like to go out with me Friday?" Van asked, bringing her out of her fantasies.

"What?" Charlie asked, still processing all the information that she was being assaulted with.

"Friday night, you and me, a real date," he summarized.

"Oh, uh… Wow… Um…" she stuttered, searching for the right words. This asking out thing was all new to her. "Yeah, sure," Charlie finally said as she looked into his beautiful grey green eyes and smiled again, this time wider than before.

Van smiled back at her, his free hand brushing a few strands of wild hair away from her face. He could see the sparkle in her eyes as her smiled turned into a full blown grin. He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but he knew better. Charlie wasn't used to this much human contact, and the best way to ease her into it was with baby steps. The kiss on the hand was the first step. He'd work his way up to a real kiss soon enough. For now, this was perfectly fine; a tantalizing preview of what was to come.

"Well, I'll call you and we'll figure things out, okay?" Van asked as he let go of her hand.

"Yeah, sure; that would be great," Charlie replied, watching him as he made his way towards the Mustang. He turned for a moment to smile at her and she waved her goodbye then made her way to the Navigator where Stella, Evie, and Leo were waiting for her, ready to ask up a storm about their exchange. Ah, there was nothing like friends and family to allow you to relive the fantasy just one more time.

* * *

Hey, everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to repost. I JUST finished college. I graduated on Mother's Day. What a gift for mom that was! LOL! Anyway, hopefully I'll get back on track with this story. Thanks for your continuing support. I can't really get to the reviews right now because I'm working. I just wanted to post a new chapter before I got really busy. Again, thank you so much for reading and reviewing for those of you who are. And those who are just reading, thank you as well. I really appreciate it. 

More coming soon!

-D


	7. New Angles And New Problems

**Chapter 7: New Angles And New Problems**

_All the times that I've cried  
All this wasted, it's all inside  
And I feel, all this pain, stuffed it down  
It's back again  
And I lie here in bed, all alone, I can't mend  
And I feel tomorrow will be okay  
But I know_

_I'm on the outside  
I'm looking in  
I can see through you  
See your true colors  
'Cause inside you're ugly  
You're ugly like me  
I can see through you  
See to the real you_

_-"Outside" Aaron Lewis & Fred Durst_

"Finally!" Billie practically shouted as her men entered the Candy Store about a half hour later, their eyes red and glassed over from their lack of sleep that night.

"Why are we here on a Sunday MORNING?" Van expressed his displeasure by raising his voice while he walked closer to his boss's office at the center of the spacious room.

"Grow up," she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What I think Van wants to know is why you asked us to come this early. It can't be about paperwork," Deaq reasoned, focusing her attention on him, and the glare that came with it.

"I don't like the fact that you two are dragging your feet on this case," Billie got straight to the point.

"Dragging our feet?" Van nearly yelled as he sauntered up to her desk placing his hands on the cool frosted glass and leaning in so they were eye to eye. "We've only been on this case for two days. What are you expecting to happen in that much time?"

"Something besides flirting with Edwards!" Billie shot back. "You two are the LAPD"s best undercover cops. You solve cases in half the time it takes other units to even get someone in place. With numbers like yours, I expect results, FAST! So when I don't start to see something within in the first day or two, I begin to think you're slacking off."

"What the hell, Billie?" Van was now yelling. "You told me to get close to Charlie, so I am!"

"I also told you to get close to Sterling. You were supposed to sign that contract YESTERDAY! I didn't waste a favor so you could sit on your ass and contemplate!" She was furious, but somehow managed to keep her anger in check as she added, "Since it's taking you so damn long to get the ball rolling on your own, I decided to get it rolling for you."

"What the hell are you talking about, Billie?" Deaq calmly asked from his seat in front of her desk.

"I found one of Sterling's buyers and managed to turn him against Sterling," she answered.

_Sitting in her car on one of LA's most dangerous street corners where drug deals went down on a regular basis and gang shootings seemed to happen just as often, Billie's sharp blue eyes scanned the dark area, waiting for her target to show. She didn't feel threatened one bit. After all, this place was her stomping ground while she was working vice. It didn't faze her that this was one of the most dangerous places in all of LA. She was used to it. Moreover, nothing ever really scared her anymore, so she sat, watching, waiting, until the man finally sauntered out of the shadows and approached her car._

_"Whaddya need?" the dark, burly, black haired Spanish man asked, leaning into her window._

_"I've got a problem," Billie answered, placing her hand on the gun in her lap and quickly pointing it at the man as she grabbed him by the collar, holding him in place so she could continue. "One of my guys bought some product from you last week, and when I went to try it out, the stuff was crap! Now, tell me, what do you think would have happened if I tried to sell that without knowing it was tainted? I'd be in the same position you're in right now."_

_"Lady, I swear, my stuff is 100 pure," he tried to tell her, but Billie's grip became tighter as she continued to press the cold steel deeper into the man's neck. She was surprised at how easy this was going. She'd been expecting some fight from a man of his stature, but this was downright cowardice. The things people would do to save their hides, she thought._

_"Does it look like I give a shit right now?" she growled into his ear. "You'd better find a way to fix this or the next time I come around, there won't be anything to talk about. Understood?"_

_"Yes, ma'am," the man answered as she finally let go of his collar and threw him out of her car window, still holding her gun to make sure he didn't get any bright ideas._

_"You've got two days to bring me new product," Billie instructed just before rolling up her window and peeling away from the curb, out of harms way._

_The man grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialed a number. "Sterling, we need to talk," he growled into the receiver before hanging up._

Billie clicked a few keys on her keyboard, bringing up a file on one of LA's most notorious drug dealers, Sergio Montanez.

"Ah, hell," Deaq muttered.

"Great," Van grumbled.

They both knew about this guy and his incredible ties to everyone from the mafia and the most powerful gangs in LA to some of Hollywood's most elite. He was their number one supplier, and pissing him off always meant trouble. Montanez was known for his explosive temper, and once directed towards you, there was going to be hell to pay.

"Chop, chop, boys," Billie said, flashing them on of her trademark evil grins.

Van and Deaq shot up from their chairs and headed towards the Mustang parked outside. They knew almost immediately something bad was going to happen to Sterling if they didn't get to him as soon as possible. Montanez was probably already out looking for him.

Deaq quickly pulled out his cell phone once he'd gotten into the passenger's seat and began to dial the number Sterling had given him the last time they'd talked. Van pulled out of the Candy Store parking lot, tires squealing, onto the main road and punched the gas.

"Hunter Sterling," came the answer over the phone a few rings later.

"Hey, Mr. Sterling, it's Deaq, Van Strummer's manager," Deaq replied, hoping he hadn't heard the ruckus Van was making with the car.

"Ah, Deaq, good to hear from you," Sterling said as if he knew the exact reason for the call. "How are you?"

"I'm good, sir," Deaq answered, trying to suck up to this guy as much as he could. He knew getting on the man's good side would prove to be essential in their case against him. "Van and I have finally reached an agreement. We just wanna know where to drop off the signed contract."

"Very good," Sterling replied. "You know what? I'm obviously not at the office today, but you could drop it off at my Beverly Hills home. That way I can also show you my… operation. I've heard many good things about your business. I hope we can start working together as soon as possible." He gave Deaq the directions to the house and told them to ring the bell at the gate. The security guard knew they were coming and would let them in without a problem. "See you soon," he said before hanging up.

"Now what?" Van asked, leaning back in the driver's seat as he punched the accelerator. He had to give himself credit; he'd done a really good job fixing the engine as it roared to life with the slightest touch of the pedal.

"We go to his house, give him the contract, and wait for Montanez to show," Deaq answered as he put his phone away.

"No, really?" came Van's sarcastic remark. "I mean after that. What are we gonna do when Montanez gets there?"

"I dunno," Deaq shrugged. "Play it by ear."

A long silence passed between the two men, making Van feel uncomfortable and prompting him to ask, "What if we see Charlie?"

"So what?" Deaq was getting seriously annoyed by his partner's incessant questions. He just wanted a nice nap before they reached Sterling's house and all the fun began. But that didn't look like it was going to happen. Then again, he should have expected it. Van was never the type to stay quiet for more than a few seconds.

"So what? She said that if I sighed with him, I was signing a pact with the devil. She told me to keep shopping around. If she saw me hand that contract to Sterling, I don't think she'd ever speak to me again, and the whole case would be blown right out of the water before we even get a shot at it," Van tried to reason with himself more than his partner.

"Then we'll just have to find another angle," Deaq replied.

"But I don't wanna find another angle," Van whined, making Deaq turn around to stare at him with wide eyes. Now he knew for sure that something was up with his partner. He never cared what angle they took on a case, especially one that was just beginning. And even if they had to switch angles mid stream, he never complained. He'd do his job. But not this time… No… There was something keeping him from wanting to make the switch, and before Deaq could call him out on it, he added, "We've already put too much effort into trying to reach Charlie. It'd be a waste to find another angle."

"Riiight," Deaq answered with a wide grin. "Keep telling yourself that."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Van knew the gig was up, he only hoped he could salvage whatever dignity he still had left.

"You're in denial about your feelings for this girl."

"Denial? Oh, no, I don't think so. That's a load of crap."

"You like her," Deaq teased. "I could see it all last night and this morning; the way you danced with her, the way you talked to her, the way you flirted with her. Maybe Van isn't so shallow after all."

"Stop calling me shallow!" Van yelled. "I'm not shallow, alright! I'm just… judgmental."

"At least we know that's not holding you back anymore," Deaq snickered as Van pulled up to Sterling's home, a large mansion in one of the most secluded parts of Beverly Hills. It was nestled on the side of a small hill overlooking the rest of the area.

Before Van had a chance to make a comeback, the security guard was already waving them through the front gate. He slowly drove the car along the shady, tree lined driveway towards the enormous Italian style home. There were two other cars parked near the door, a sleek black Ferrari and a silver Hummer H2. The boys parked behind the Ferrari and got out of the Mustang. A butler was already waiting for them at the door, inviting them into the house.

Van and Deaq were awestruck by the immensity of the great room they stepped into. It was full of vintage Italian furniture and paintings that would give any museum a run for its money. In they distance, the sound of two male voices arguing permeated the air. The butler directed them towards the back of the house and the patio in front of the pool. A tall, blonde haired woman with a body to give teenagers a run for their money was already sunbathing on one of the plush pool chairs in the morning sunlight.

"Mr. Sterling will be out momentarily," the butler said before he retreated.

The blonde woman opened her eyes and glanced in their direction, a wicked grin on her face. She stood from her seat and made her way towards them, her skimpy pink bikini leaving very little to the imagination. Van gulped, immediately noting the similarities between this woman and Stella and Charlie. 'Oh, God, it's their mother,' he put the pieces together and nearly wanted to hurl.

"Hello," she greeted them with an outstretched hand and seductive smile, but her eyes instantly fell upon Van as she sized him up. "I'm Kayla Sterling. And you are?"

"Van Strummer," he answered, feeling the bile rise in his throat. This was the woman that had caused all the trouble in the first place. This was the woman that had put Charlie in danger. This was the woman that had ruined her life. All he wanted to do was wrap his fingers around her delicate neck and squeeze the life out of her. Instead, he took her hand and shook it.

"Deaq Hayes," his partner replied, flashing her a million dollar smile. Van envied him for being able to keep his cool so well while he remained stone faced and sullen.

"Oh, you must be the boys my husband is getting ready to sign to his label," Kayla said, her sharp hazel eyes never leaving Van as she continued to ogle him. If there was on trait she and Charlie had in common, that was probably it. "He's also told me about how you're one hell of a talented young man. I'd love to hear you play one of these days, maybe a private performance," she slyly added, raising her well groomed eyebrows.

Again, Van felt like he was going to hurl. Here she was hitting on him while her husband stood only a few feet away in the house. He could only hope that he'd come out already so they could get down to business. Thankfully, Deaq took mercy on him and replied, "You have a lovely home, Mrs. Sterling."

"Please, call me Kayla," she answered. "And thank you." She motioned for the boys to sit down at the glass table as she walked back into the house to retrieve her husband. It wasn't long before he came out, a wide grin plastered to his lips.

"Van, Deaq, so good to see you!" Sterling greeted. They stood up in a welcoming gesture, but he motioned for them to sit back down as he took a seat at the head of the table near the house, his wife standing behind him. "You've made a very wise decision by accepting my offer. I can't wait to see what kind of star power you conjure up. I've got a feeling you're going to be really big, huge maybe, especially with the ladies."

Van merely nodded, too sick to speak. He wished this case was already over and that he didn't have to deal with these people anymore. It was the first time he'd ever felt this way about a case. Even when he'd been working with some of the most despicable people on the planet, they never would come close to what these people made him feel.

"But that's not the only reason why you're here," Sterling continued. "Let me show you the rest of the house, then we'll get down to the business at hand." He stood up, the boys following, and led them back into the house.

In her room at the farthest corner of the mansion, Charlie lay awake, her mind ablaze with all the strange and wonderful events of the previous evening, especially the part where Van asked her out. She kept playing it back in her mind like a romantic comedy on repeat. It brought a smile to her face every time she went back to it. She might not have had any sleep for the last 24 hours, but she wasn't about to close her eyes right now. She wanted to make phone calls to all her friends and tell them what had happened, but figured they were all probably asleep considering it was Sunday morning.

Instead, Charlie roused herself from her bed, slipping onto her favorite pair of flip flops and heading down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She had changed into a pair of old track pants and a t-shirt after having gotten home that morning to feel a little more comfortable. As she made her way down the hall, she could hear voices echoing from the great room. Her instincts told her to take the back way and avoid any involvement, but every other sense in her body was telling her to explore and find out who was here. Her mind always made the comment that maybe this would lead to a more solid case against her stepfather in the murder of her father. She had to go see who was at the house today.

Walking straight into the room, her hazel eyes immediately met with a familiar set of grey green and her heart nearly stopped. Charlie could feel her jaw drop as her vision focused on the person she was staring at. 'No,' she wanted to cry out. What was Van doing here? He was supposed to be at work. He was supposed to be looking for a better record company that wouldn't take his soul.

The expression on Sterling's face immediately dulled at the sight of his step-daughter as he said, "That's Charlie, Kayla's daughter." He didn't even acknowledge that they were now related by marriage. But that didn't really bother her. It never had. She couldn't care less if he acknowledged her or not. It was just that with Van standing there, also staring at her in shock and surprise, she felt like the lowest piece of dirt on the planet. This was worse than her mother calling her a fat cow. She wanted to run back into her room and cry, but Sterling stopped her.

"Charlie, this is Van. I just signed him to my label," he said, forcing her to stay put.

"Charlie, be polite," she could hear her mother's strong voice call from her left. Doing as she was told, Charlie walked towards the group of men.

"Hi," Charlie's voice barely carried as she held out her trembling hand for Van to shake.

"Hi," he almost inaudibly replied as he took her hand. Van felt her nails dig into his skin as they shook, the anger become clear on her face as she pulled away from his grasp as if she'd just been bitten by a snake.

"She's such a shy, fat little girl," Kayla affectionately replied. "She's not much of a socialite like her sister. She'd rather sit at home and chat on her computer."

The horror on Charlie's face became ever present as she made a quick exit out of the great room towards the kitchen. Her mother had really done it this time. All she wanted to do was slink back into her room and bury her face in her pillow, wishing she'd just trusted her instinct instead of following her head into this awful mess.

Taking the back way up the kitchen stairs, Charlie did just that. She ran into her room and slammed the door shut; locking it to make sure no one would enter until she was ready to come out and face the world again, or until she died of sheer embarrassment. But as she sat on her bed, she could feel the anger rise up again, this time directed towards Van. She'd warned him about signing with Hunter Sterling, but he'd blatantly disregarded her advice and went ahead with it.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Charlie screamed into her pillow. "That stupid asshole! I told him! I told him!" she continued to repeat as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. After today, she never wanted to see him again. How could he do this to her? How could he be so stupid? The questions continued to roll through her mind until she finally cried herself to sleep.

Back in the great room, the color was quickly draining from Van's face as he watched Charlie make a run for it after all the horrible things her mother had said. He wanted to run after her, comfort her, apologize for everything and tell her the truth, but he couldn't. Not with Deaq and Sterling waiting to regain his attention so they could walk towards the back of the house to the basement. But as luck would have it, they wouldn't get very far before the doorbell rang and their "unexpected" guest finally arrived. The three of them turned around to see who it was as the butler opened the door.

The burly Spanish man knocked the other man down and shouted, "Sterling, you're dead!"

* * *

Just thought I'd throw this up because I never got to do so. Hope you're not mad at me for holding out for so long. I know it's been a looooong while. I got a review today from someone that asked for me, and I saw that as a sign to finally post this chapter. 

And if any of you are CSI:NY fans, feel free to check out my fics in that fandom. It seems I got a little distracted with that before I finally got back to this. Anyway, enjoy!

Thanks to all of you who have stuck around and read and reviewed. Much appreciated. Have a great Monday. Bye!

-DK


	8. The Deal

**Chapter 8: The Deal**

_Stop right there  
That's exactly where I lost it  
See that line  
Well I never should have crossed it  
Stop right there  
I never should have said that  
It's the very moment that  
I wish that I could take back  
-"Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" Reliant K_

Glancing at each other, Van and Deaq knew their moment had finally arrived. They reached behind their back and whipped out their guns, startling Kayla and making Sterling smile as he watched the scene unfold before him. Montanez also pulled out his own weapon, shocked and somewhat frightened by what was going on, but none the less wavering from his spot by the door.

"Put your gun down!" Deaq yelled. When the man wouldn't he added, "Put it down now!"

"Put your gun down!" Van repeated, never letting his attention shift. He directed his previous anger towards the man now standing at the door.

Montanez shifted his weapon between Van and Deaq, still wondering what the hell was going on and who these men were. "What the fuck, Sterling? Who are these fuckers? Your new bodyguards?" he asked, trying to intimidate the men.

The butler, seeing his chance to get away from the scary man standing near him, scrambled away and hid behind one of the Italian couches, too afraid to go anywhere else. Kayla did the same, except she managed to escape into the hallway and avoided getting into harm's way. She ran to the master bedroom and locked the door behind her, not wanting to know what would happen if this meeting didn't go so well.

"Calm down, Sergio," Sterling sternly replied. "What's going on?" The man had such a powerful presence that Montanez slowly lowered his weapon to his side, but didn't release his tight grasp on it. There might be a peaceful resolution to this after all, he hoped. If it was one thing he hated, it was to get blood all over his house. That would only cause problems later on. It didn't mean he wouldn't shoot someone if it came down to it.

"Why the hell you sellin' me crap?" Montanez continued to yell. "One of my customers wasn't satisfied with her order and wants me to get more product by tomorrow."

"My product is perfect," Sterling growled, suddenly becoming angry by the accusation. He never liked potential buyers hearing this kind of thing, no matter how much he could back it up. "If anything, you're the one who's trying to stiff your customers. You know what kind of operation I run."

"That's a load of crap!" Montanez's explosive anger began to shine through again as he raised his gun and pointed it at Sterling. He didn't even seem fazed by it.

Van and Deaq instantly went into defensive mode, taking the safety off their own guns and aiming them straight for Montanez. No matter how much Van hated Sterling, he would rather see him rot in prison than have him get killed this early in the game. But if it ever did come down to it, he wanted to have the pleasure of pulling the trigger, or, better yet, give the gun to Charlie and let her finish him off. But right now, his focus was on keeping all their hides from getting riddled with bullet holes.

"Put your gun down!" Deaq shouted, centering Montanez's attention on him and Van again. "Put it down!"

"Make me, bitch!" Montanez taunted, aiming for him and getting ready to pull the trigger.

But before either one of them got off a round, Montanez was on the ground holding his shoulder, his gun having fallen out of his hand and onto the white marble floor. Van and Deaq shot a glance at Sterling to see him holding a small pistol with a silencer on the end. No wonder they hadn't heard anything. Their attention had been on Montanez and neither one of them had seen him reach into the vest pocket of his suit to pull out the gun. He continued to point it at Montanez as the boys went over to assess the damage.

Deaq grabbed the discarded gun and pointed it at Montanez as Van patted him down to make sure he wasn't carrying anything else. He found a knife on the fallen man and slipped it into the waistband of his pants. "All clear," he finally called over his shoulder once his search was complete.

"Let this be a reminder to you," Sterling said as he strode over to them slowly, slipping his gun back into his vest pocket. "If you ever set foot on my property again or try to threaten me in any way, you will be taken care of." He stood towering above Montanez, then kneeled down, taking him by the chin and holding up his head so they saw eye to eye. "I want you to get up, get in your car, and drive away… far, far away, possibly Mexico, or Canada. These two are now taking over for you." Sterling let go of the man's face and stood up again to walk away, leaving Van and Deaq to make sure he left. "Henry, please take care of the mess once Mr. Montanez leaves," he called over his shoulder to the cowering butler who had finally peeked over the Italian couch to see what had happened.

Montanez struggled to get up, and once he was, the two men pushed him out of the house and slammed the door shut behind him. They followed Sterling out of the great room and into the dining room where he was pulling a cigar out of a large box on the polished wood table. He handed one to both Van and Deaq and smiled. "You two are proving to be much bigger assets that I expected. You'll see in a moment why Sergio was wrong," Sterling said as he motioned for them to follow him out of the dining room and into the kitchen to a door that led outside. He held it open for them before making his way to another small house on the property.

This second house more like a storage shed. There were hundreds of tools hanging from the walls and several large machines ranging from lawn mowers and weed blowers to hedge trimmers and whatnot. But that wasn't what they were in here for. Sterling leaned down at the center of the room and pressed a small floorboard that instantly popped open to reveal a keypad. After typing in a long sequence of numbers, the hissing of an airlock filled the room and a large section of the wood floor rose up, exposing a metal staircase. Van and Deaq looked at each other amazed as Sterling glanced up at them in amusement. They followed him down the stairs and into a large laboratory of sorts. It was so big it seemed to be larger than the house.

"Welcome to my bat chamber," Sterling announced, stepping aside so the boys could see the enormity of the laboratory.

"Damn," Deaq breathed.

"Holy crap," Van added, unable to take his eyes off all the medical and manufacturing equipment housed in this large space. He thought he'd seen the best of drug labs when they busted Gavin West, but now his lab looked like a kid's chemistry set compared to this operation.

"One full acre devoted to the production of whatever drug your heart desires. I have everything from the low end stuff like marijuana and ecstasy to the high end stuff like heroine, cocaine, and crystal meth. It's all yours for the plundering, boys. Ask and you shall receive," Sterling said as he walked through the lab. There were several people already working down there, mixing chemicals, watching for reactions, and doing all that other stuff chemists did.

Van and Deaq continued to glance at each other, unable to comprehend how they hadn't heard about this already. But now that they'd actually been in it, Billie would have a field day once she busted Sterling. Except she was willing to wait until the murder charge finally presented itself before she went in. That was more important to her than the drug charge because it meant that he had the possibility of the death penalty. It was something they all seemed to want for different reasons.

"So, what would you like this first time around? Pot? Ecstasy? Coke? Come on, speak up," Sterling encouraged as the smile on his face grew wider.

"Van, what do you think?" Deaq turned to his partner and asked.

"Hmm… I don't know. Why don't we start off small and work our way up?" Van suggested.

"I'm glad you two weren't turned off by what Sergio said," Sterling replied, putting his arms around his two new associates.

"We're impressed, Mr. Sterling," Deaq answered.

"Please, stop with the formalities. Call me Hunter."

"Alright, Hunter; let's make a deal."

After an hour of talking about all the different types of drugs Sterling was offering, Van and Deaq finally decided on buying a couple hundred points of marijuana and several thousand capsules of ecstasy as a trade for Van signing the recording contract. Sterling told them he was being nice since signing Van would help keep the FBI and DEA off his back, but why he didn't really elaborate. He only said that it had something to do with record sales and he would explain it some time later after they'd sold this stash and saw just what kind of money could be made on the streets of LA.

The moment Van and Deaq drove off Sterling's property, the full weight of it all finally sank in for Van. "I can't believe this," he barely whispered, keeping his eyes on the road instead of his partner. He knew the questions would be coming, so he might as well explain himself right now before they came out at the wrong time, like while Billie was around. "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you, Van," Deaq tried to stay positive, even though he knew Van was probably right. "She just temporarily dislikes you."

Van sighed, still not taking his eyes off the road. They drove in silence for a little while as the image of Charlie's face when she saw him standing in her home assaulted his mind. He could see the sheer hatred that stemmed in those hazel eyes that soon turned into pure horror as her mother chimed in with all those degrading comments. Hillary had been right; the girl didn't have anyone to tell her she was beautiful. Instead, she was treated like an outcast. Charlie might have had Stella, Evie, and Leo, but that was unconditional love. She needed someone who cared in a different way, one that she'd appreciate. This was the turning point where Van realized that he'd just proven Billie wrong, and that this case was about to get crazy.

"Come on, Van, stop worrying about Charlie," Deaq said.

"I can't stop worrying about Charlie!" Van nearly yelled back as he stopped the car suddenly. He hadn't realized how much this case was getting to him until now. "Did you not see the look she gave me when Sterling forced her to say hi? Did you not see the pain and embarrassment in her eyes when her mother said those awful things about her? Did you not see her tears when she ran out of the room?"

"I did," Deaq quietly answered. He'd never really seen Van this worked up before, but he could tell that the previous night had changed his opinion of the woman they had been sent to get close to.

"How can you do that to your own child? How can anyone be so cruel? Charlie's just a kid," Van muttered more to himself than to his partner. Grasping and releasing the steering wheel of the Mustang, he thought back to his own family and realized he had much more in common with her than he previously thought. Van made a mental note to send Hillary a big bouquet of flowers and a thank you card for her insight into all of this.

"So what do you wanna do?" Deaq asked.

"I dunno," Van replied, running a hand through his wild hair. "I wanna help her, but after what happened today, I don't think I can ever get close to her again."

"Well, you could always talk to Stella or Evie or Leo," his partner suggested. "They've already helped you once. What makes you think they won't help you again?"

Van nodded his head and pulled out his cell phone, scrolling through the numbers to find the one Stella had given him when they first met. She'd specifically told him to call her any time he needed some help with Charlie, and this was definitely one of those times. Pressing the talk button, Van only had to wait for a couple of rings before she picked up.

"Yeah?" Stella asked, sounding a bit tired and annoyed, but otherwise in a good mood.

"Hey, it's Van," he replied, trying to stay on her good side.

"Van, what's up?" Stella sounded as if she was busy from the other end, like she was holding a pin in her mouth or something.

"Have you talked to Charlie yet?" he questioned, hoping she hadn't, because he really would be screwed if she had. But if she was still talking to him, there was still a chance.

"No, why?"

"Good," Van sighed with relief, "because we've got a problem. I came over to the house this morning to drop off the contract with Deaq, and we kinda ran into Charlie while we were there."

"Uh-oh," Stella immediately replied. "No wonder her door's closed and locked. Shit, you're in trouble!"

"Yeah, and I was sorta wondering what I could do to fix things."

"Hmm…" Stella paused for a moment, contemplating her answer. "I'd say force her to talk to you, but I don't know how. The way we usually get her to listen is to either coup her up in a moving vehicle, or we gang up on her at a party or club…" Suddenly a light bulb went on in her head. "You know what? Leo and Evie have been wanting to throw a party at the condo for the last month. This sounds like a great reason to do it. Lemmie call them real quick and explain the situation, and I'll call you back with more info. Then I'll tell Charlie about it because I know she's gonna wanna drink tonight."

"Great!" Van replied, feeling a little better. "Thanks, Stella."

"You're welcome!" she cheerfully said before hanging up the phone.

And with that, the plan was sent into motion. That night, Evie and Leo would have a little "get together" with several of their closest friends at their condo, and Van would provide the entertainment for the night. All the while, Charlie would have no clue until he actually arrived at the place. He was on his own when it came to planning what he'd say to her when he got there. Van had that covered, though. There was already a great idea formulating in his mind as to how he'd get back in Charlie's good graces. He'd serenade her with one of the new song's he'd written and hopefully break through the icy exterior then they'd have a nice long talk.


	9. High Proof

**Chapter 9: High Proof**

_Come up to meet ya, tell you I'm sorry  
You don't know how lovely you are  
I had to find you, tell you I need ya  
And tell you I set you apart  
Tell me your secrets, and nurse me your questions  
Oh lets go back to the start  
Running in circles, coming in tails  
Heads on a science apart  
Nobody said it was easy  
It's such a shame for us to part  
Nobody said it was easy  
No one ever said it would be this hard  
Oh take me back to the start  
-"The Scientist" Coldplay_

"Charlie! Open the fucking door!" Stella yelled several hours later as she began to pound on her sister's door, getting angrier by the minute that she still was refusing to open up. "Open it before I have Mom open it for me!"

That did the trick. Stella heard the click of the lock sliding out of place and the door immediately opened. Charlie looked like hell, though, which was probably the reason why she refused to open the door. Her hair was a mess, the tell tale signs that she'd been crying appeared as thick streaks of eyeliner on her cheeks, and she had yet to take a shower. "What the fuck do you want?" she asked in a raspy voice.

"Jesus, Charlie, you look like crap," Stella said, pushing her way into her sister's room. The smell of alcohol permeated the air the deeper she went inside.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Charlie retorted, closing her door again and sitting down on her bed, but not before reaching underneath it and pulling out a large bottle of vodka.

"Uh-uh," Stella replied, snatching it out of her hand before she could take a drink. "You can have as much of this as you want tonight. Evie and Leo are having a little get together at the condo around nine. And what the hell are you doing starting this early anyway? What happened between this morning and this afternoon?"

Charlie mumbled something incoherent, and the only words that Stella caught were, "Van… prick… asshole… stupid…"

"Why is Van a stupid asshole prick?" Stella asked, sitting down in Charlie's desk chair beside the bed.

"Don't wanna talk about it," her sister answered, burying her face in her pillow.

"Right, so that means we can invite him tonight," Stella surmised, testing to see how far she could push Charlie to see if she was really that angry at him.

"You'd fucking better not!" Charlie yelled back, shooting up out of her bed to stand in front of her sister.

"Give me one good reason why." Stella put her hands on her hips and waited for an answer.

Charlie stood in front of her, the turmoil present on her face. She wanted to tell Stella something, but refused to open her mouth. Finally, she threw up her hands and replied, "Whatever, Stella, invite him if you want. I'll just get drunk enough to not care."

"Oh, come on, Charlie! What happened? You can't keep drinking yourself into oblivion! It's not good for your health!" Stella protested.

"Fine! You wanna know why I'm pissed at him? It's because he signed that damn contract with Zeus Records! That's why! I told him to shop around, and he just went ahead and signed with the devil himself!" Charlie yelled, her face turning red with anger.

Stella couldn't help rolling her eyes as she glared at her sister. "Charlie, that's not your problem. What Van does is his business," she reasoned. "What if he couldn't find a better deal? What if Hunter was giving him the only deal? You can't be mad at him about that. He's just trying to make a living like the rest of us."

Charlie stopped listening to her and started to make her way towards her bathroom to get ready for the party tonight. Besides, there was another bottle of alcohol in her medicine cabinet for emergencies such as these. She slammed the door shut behind her as Stella shook her head in disappointment. She stood up and placed the vodka bottle on Charlie's desk then walked out of her room, not looking back.

They didn't end up seeing each other for the next couple of hours until Stella came to tell her it was time to go. Charlie was quite drunk by then, and it showed. She stumbled out of her room, a smile plastered on her face. By some miracle she had managed to pick out a somewhat appropriate outfit for that evening consisting of a sky blue t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a light, royal purple sweater, and a comfortable pair of old sneakers. Stella helped her into the car and they were off to Evie and Leo's condo on the outskirts of the city.

It didn't take them longer than ten minutes to reach the place since traffic wasn't bad, but parking seemed like it would be a nightmare. There were already several cars parked on the side of the street stretching from one end of the block to the other. But that really wasn't going to be their problem since Leo and Evie always saved them a space in the garage. She pulled into the underground lot and found the spot then proceeded to help Charlie out of the car and up the stairs so she wouldn't fall over.

"I seriously wish you found some other way of dealing with your shit," Stella grumbled as she propped her sister against the wall and knocked on the door. The sound of loud music was already playing, and when the door opened, the blast was enough to ruffle her hair.

"Leo!"

"Stella!"

The two girls greeted each other with hugs before Stella grabbed Charlie and shoved her through the door. "She's already hit the bottle," she told Leo as they helped her to the couch in the spacious living room area where most of the people had gathered. "Hey, guys! Wassup?" Stella called to them as she made her way towards the kitchen. A few of them waved as others said hello but after a few moments, they all returned to their previous conversations.

In the kitchen, Stella found Evie standing in front of the black marble countertop island chatting with a few more of their friends from LA. She pulled her aside to tell her what was going on with Charlie and made sure to tell the others that no one was allowed to give her another drink, no matter how much she begged.

A few moments later, the doorbell rang, and all three girls went to go get it. For the next hour, a steady stream of people walked through the door, thickening the already large crowd until it was spilling out onto the porch. Charlie had remained in the living room talking to several of their friends, intoxicated, clueless, and happy. She hadn't even asked for a drink yet, which was a good sign.

But that would all change as the doorbell rang again, and this time neither Stella nor Evie nor Leo were around to get it. Charlie stood up on wobbly legs even though her body had already filtered out a significant amount of alcohol. Steadying herself against the couch as she walked, she made it to the door in a couple of seconds as the impatient guest rang the bell again. "Alright, already! I'm coming!" she grumpily yelled over the loud music.

When the door opened, Charlie could feel her entire world come to a screeching halt. 'Fuckin' A!' her mind shouted as her eyes got bigger. She didn't think Stella would actually go through with it, but she had. And now she was standing in front of the one person she hated the most at this very moment, besides her stepfather.

"Hi, Charlie," Van hesitantly said as he gazed at her, his big grey green eyes giving her the saddest kicked puppy look she'd ever seen.

"Fuck off," Charlie replied, turning around and making her way into the kitchen where all the alcohol was. Now she needed a drink. She refused to give in to any tricks he would try in order to get her to speak to him. Talk was cheap. Actions spoke louder than words. And right now, her actions were probably screaming "Get the hell away from me" loud and clear.

Charlie grabbed the bottle of vodka on the counter and took several large gulps from it before Stella wandered into the room and saw what she was doing. Grabbing the bottle away from her sister, she said, "Whoa! Take it easy. You don't wanna end up on the bathroom floor again, do you?"

"I don't care!" Charlie growled, taking the bottle back and downing another good cup of it before she finally put it down. A loud belch escaped from her lips and she giggled, "Now I feel better." Charlie stumbled out of the kitchen and back into the living room, plopping herself down on the couch and starting to stare off into oblivion as she always did when there was a shit load of alcohol in her system. Her eyes started to glass over, that dubious smile crossing her lips as she started to giggle stupidly.

Van saw his chance to talk to her, not realizing she had just drank half a bottle of vodka and wasn't that coherent. He sat down next to her and whispered, "Charlie, can we please talk."

"What?" she practically yelled, whipping her head around so she could look at him.

The strong odor of vodka hit Van and he immediately recoiled. 'Shit,' he thought, finally seeing just how drunk she was. Charlie hadn't been like this a few moments ago. "Um, maybe this isn't the right time," he said, getting ready to stand up and find one of the girls to help him get her out of here before something happened.

"Don't goooo!" Charlie wailed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back down on the couch. The alcohol had finally made its way to the rest of her brain, completely overshadowing whatever coherent thought she had left. Van sat down next to her, and she replied, "I knew you'd stay with me."

"Of course," he answered with a fake smile, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden as her hand crept up his arm to rest on his shoulder, that wide grin on her face looking almost unnatural. The only reason Van stayed was to keep her safe from anyone in the group who could potentially take advantage of her in this state.

"You're hot," Charlie suddenly said, giggling again. Her face became serious as she leaned closer to him and asked, "You wanna go somewhere quieter and get… comfortable?"

That was Van's queue to get the hell out of there and find one of the others to help him carry Charlie out of the living room to someplace where she wouldn't run the risk getting herself in trouble. He shot off the couch and headed for the kitchen where he thought he'd heard Stella talking. She was standing at the island, lightly conversing with a few people and immediately shot a glance at Van when he entered the room.

"I need your help," he said in an urgent tone.

Stella told her friends she'd be right back and followed Van into the living room. Sprawled across the couch was her passed out drunken sister, her feet still planted on the floor as the rest of her body had fallen against the cushions. She went over to Charlie and kneeled down in front of her, using her hand to slap her sister clear across the face. Van stood there, appalled by what Stella was doing, especially when she sternly yelled, "Charlie, wake up!" She slapped her a few more times before Charlie began to groan.

"Stella?" she weakly mumbled, her eyes opening into slits. "Stella, I don't feel so good."

"Alright, up we go," said Stella as she wrapped her arm around her sister's waist and helped put her into a sitting position the couch. Van wrapped his arm around her other side, and together they managed to hoist Charlie up, carrying her towards the other end of the condo where Leo and Evie's bedrooms were. "In here," Stella instructed, veering left into Evie's room.

They were about to lower Charlie onto the bed when she let out another, more painful groan, immediately prompting her sister to change course and head in the opposite direction. "Bathroom!" Stella ordered as she and Van turned around. Luckily Evie's bathroom was just a few feet away from the bed. She kicked open the door and flipped on the lights before letting Charlie slide down onto the white marble floor beside the toilet. With Van's help, they wrapped her arms around the porcelain seat.

Moments later, the vomiting began. Stella pulled back Charlie's long hair, holding her head up so she could empty the contents of her stomach without blocking her airway. "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie… That's what drinking half a bottle of high proof vodka gets you," Stella sighed, stroking her sister's forehead once it was over. Charlie had passed out again with her head falling into the crook of her arm. "Go on," she told Van. "I'll take care of her. If you want, you can go home now. Not like you have an obligation to stay here."

But Van didn't want to go anywhere. He felt that this was his fault, and that if he wanted to continue to see her and really prove to Billie that he wasn't the asshole she thought he was, he owed Charlie this much to stay and take care of her. Besides, if anything, he'd be able to talk to her the next morning and find out why she'd gotten so angry with him. "Let me take care of her," Van offered. "You go back to the party and make sure it doesn't get out of hand."

Stella stared at him dumbly for a moment, wondering if she'd heard him right. She gave him a hard look and asked, "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"Stella, I'm a cop. Besides, with a boss like Billie, do you really think I would do something stupid?" Van seriously replied, glaring back at her with the same intensity. It really annoyed him that after all that had happened she still didn't trust him around her sister.

Although she still seemed unconvinced, Stella stood up and started to make her way out of the bathroom. "I'll come back with some aspirin in a little while. She'd better take it before she falls asleep, or you'll have one hell of a hangover to deal with in the morning aside from her already pissy mood, especially since she has work at eleven," Stella said before closing the door behind her to make sure everyone knew this bathroom was occupied. That left only Van and Charlie confined in this little room with the loud music thumping outside.

Just as the door shut, Charlie began to cough, and the vomiting started all over again, except this time it was Van holding her hair back instead of Stella as she somehow miraculously threw up even more than before. He sighed, making sure he was out of range just in case she missed the toilet, and waited for her to stop before letting go of her hair. Stella walked back in with the aspirin and a red Solo cup full of water, setting them down next to the sink. She just shook her head as she watched Charlie dry heave a couple of times before turning around and leaving again.

When the vomiting was over, Charlie's head fell against her arm as she coughed a couple of times, or at least that's what Van thought. He didn't realize she was crying until her shoulders started to shake. His hand immediately began to stroke her back, hoping that the comforting gesture would soothe her frazzled nerves.

"Fuckin' A!" Charlie cried. "I can't do this anymore. I just can't handle it. I hate that fucking bastard. I wish he'd die and rot in hell!" Van continued to stroke her back, hoping she wasn't talking about him. "He's always ruining my life; first with my father and now with Van… Why, God, Why? Why do you punish me like this? Why can't I go back to my old life in Chicago? Why did he have to kill my dad? Why is my mom such a cold hearted bitch? Why can't I be normal? Why can't I look like the other girls? Why do I have to be fat? Why!" Several more gut wrenching sobs filtered their way through Van's ears as he continued to stroke her back, wishing he could say something to make her feel better, wishing he could take all her pain away. He hadn't realized just how deep it ran until now.

When Charlie fell silent and her body slumped against the toilet, Van slowly and delicately eased her off the porcelain seat, allowing her head to fall back against his shoulder as he leaned on the side of the tub for support. Turning her around so that she was facing him, Van put her head back on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist so that she was in a more comfortable position. Soon after, he grabbed one of the small hand towels beside the tub and soaked it with a little cold water so he could wipe her face with it.

"I'm sorry, Charlie," he whispered, brushing a few wet strands of hair away from her face as he dabbed the cool cloth over her feverish skin. Van held her against him until he fell asleep an hour later, his cheek pressed up to her forehead and his arms wrapped tightly around her body. He didn't know what the morning would bring and only hoped that she wouldn't be as angry as she had been today.


	10. Hung Over

**Chapter 10: Hung Over**

_Let 'em fall baby fall  
Just like the rain washes it all  
If the tears will help you to heal  
All that is real  
All that is wrong  
Let 'em fall baby fall  
-"Fall Baby Fall" Ryan Cabrera_

The bright light coming in through the frosted bathroom window awoke Charlie the next morning. She tried to put her hand over her sensitive eyes, but there was something blocking it. Several moments passed before she got her bearings and realized that she was on the bathroom floor, her body propped up against something soft and warm; correction, someone. Charlie could feel her head rise and fall with every breath the person beneath her took and immediately sat up to see who it was. She instantly regretted it, feeling her head being to spin from her monstrous hangover. The feeling became too great and she fell against the toilet seat, vomiting whatever was left in her stomach.

Van awoke to the sounds of water being splashed somewhere near him and soon realized that Charlie was awake, throwing up again. He sat up, his back feeling stiff from having lain against the tub for so long, but he popped his vertebra into place and moved to hold back Charlie's hair as she continued to vomit. How she was still blowing chunks boggled his mind. What had she eaten the day before to make her this sick? Van didn't care; he just wanted to help her right now, and make her feel better if he could.

After a couple of dry heaves, Charlie was done. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked up to see Van sitting behind her, his hand on her back gently rubbing it. He reached up, taking a cup from the sink and giving it to her. In his other hand were a couple of pills. "Oh, no! I'm not taking anything you give me!" Charlie protested. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? I thought I made it pretty clear last night that I was angry at you."

"First off, this is just aspirin that Stella left for you. And second, you certainly didn't seem pissed last night when you tried to make a pass at me," Van shot back as he thrust the pills at her.

Charlie's mouth hung open when she realized how completely trashed she had gotten that night. Her face turned several shades of red before she grabbed the pills out of his hand and washed them down with the room temperature water. There was never a time when she'd felt so ashamed and embarrassed after a night of drinking. Her head turned as she felt a tear drop from her eye and slide down her cheek until it reached her chin. She was angry at herself for what she'd done, and even angrier at him for making her do it. After all, it was Van's fault for pissing her off in the first place. He just had to sign that damn contract with Sterling, didn't he?

"Charlie, look at me," he pleaded, reaching over and taking her chin in his hands. She shoved him back and started to try and stand up, but fell back, her body still unable to support her weight.

"Go away!" Charlie yelled, her face still turned away from him, but he could clearly hear that she was on the verge of crying again. Van tried to grab a hold of her arm, and again she pushed him away. "I said, go away!"

"I'm not leaving," he sternly replied, sitting up against the door and waiting for her to look at him. "We're gonna sit here until you explain why you're so pissed about me signing that contract with your stepfather and why the hell you didn't tell me Hunter Sterling was your stepfather in the first place. Instead you gave me some cryptic bullshit that signing with him was like signing with the Devil. What's up with that?"

Charlie went mute. She knew this game all too well. She used to play it with her mother when they got mad at each other. Charlie could sit there for hours refusing to speak until her father ordered her to apologize for whatever had transpired. But this time, her father wasn't around, and she could remain mute for however long she wanted because no one was going to force her to apologize. She had no reason to. Besides, she had her reasons for not telling him that Hunter Sterling was her father, good reasons.

"I never realized a grown woman could be such a child," Van retorted as he rested his head against the door. He was going to use every tactic he could to get her to talk to him, even if it seemed cruel and unconventional. "At least I'm being the bigger person and sitting here, still talking to you, even though you seem to hate me for reasons I can't comprehend. If anything, I should be mad at you for not telling me that Hunter Sterling was your stepfather. But I'm not, because I understand what it means to tell people like me that your stepfather owns one of the biggest record companies in LA. You're probably afraid that I'd just be using you. Well, let me tell you right now, even if I had known that Hunter Sterling was your stepfather, I wouldn't have cared! It was his rep that came up to me the other night at the bar asking for a meeting. I came up to you because I could see that you were really connecting with my music, and I was hoping I could get a little input from one of my first fans. I didn't know you'd turn into a whiney little brat! What's your problem, Charlie? Do you think I signed that contract just to piss you off? Because if that's what you believe, then let me be the first to tell you you're dead wrong. I did take your advice and shopped around to see if I could get a better offer, but I couldn't. Your stepfather was giving me the best deal out there. How could I turn it down? It's been my dream to sign a big recording contract with a top label like his. I would have liked it to be Capital or Sony or BMI, but they weren't willing to spend more than a couple hundred thousand dollars on a nobody like me. But your step-dad, he's willing to spend millions to make me famous. Now tell me, is that an offer you'd want to refuse?" He paused for a moment, glancing over at Charlie to see if she was going to speak. Her posture told him that she was getting angrier the more he spoke. Her back was rigid and her knuckles were turning white from grasping the toilet seat so hard. He just needed to find the perfect last words to set her off. "Alright, you don't have to say anything. If you wanna continue being a drunken bitch, that's fine with me. I'll just sit here and wait, and maybe tell you how wonderful your stepfather is for giving me that incredible deal."

Finally, Charlie just snapped, "I'm not a bratty, childish bitch!" She turned her head, her blazing hazel eyes boring holes into him as she spoke, "You're right about one thing, and that's my reasons for not telling you Hunter Sterling was my stepfather. But do you really wanna know why I'm so angry with you? It's because I know Hunter Sterling better than you ever will, and I know that he's going to destroy your life like he's destroyed mine!"

"Why are you making this about you?" Van yelled back.

"Because I don't wanna see anymore people get hurt because of him!" she shouted. "Why do you think I'm such an alcoholic? Do you think it's because I find it fun to drink and get completely annihilated and make a total ass out of myself in front of people?" Charlie asked, feeling her emotions finally bubbling up as tears threatened to spill from her eyes again. "It's because every time I think about all the unspeakable things that man has done to me and my family, I want to kill myself. I think that if I drink enough I'll somehow forget everything, but I can't. It just gets worse and worse. I can't handle it anymore." Finally, the emotional dam burst and she started to cry again. She wrapped her arms around her knees and curled up into a little ball at the corner of the bathroom beside the toilet. With her eyes staring directly at the floor near her feet, she feebly added, "I'm afraid for you, Van. If he ever did anything to you, I don't think I could forgive myself."

"I'm… touched," Van said, pushing himself off the door and cautiously scooting as close to her as she'd permit. Although they'd only known each other for less than a couple of days, he could see that Charlie was already finding something about him to latch on to. What, he couldn't figure out yet, but he didn't care so long as she started to trust him. Hesitantly, he reached over and brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face as more tears streamed down her pale cheeks. Charlie looked up sharply, his touch startling her, but soon relaxed when she realized he wasn't going to do anything to her.

"Please stop crying," Van whispered, his fingers falling against her skin to wipe away the hot tears that continued to drip from her eyes. As they stared at each other, Charlie felt as if she had finally found someone who would stick by her side through thick and thin. When he smiled, it warmed her heart. The feeling washed over her body, relaxing her muscles and allowing her to finally break out of the funk she'd been experiencing. "There's that beautiful smile that I like so much," he pointed out as the corners of her lips turned upward.

Charlie experienced another first that morning. "I'm sorry, Van," she whispered her apology. She'd never willingly apologized to anyone in her entire life, let alone felt the need to. He was changing her somehow, and she liked it.

"Come here," Van said, opening his arms for an inviting hug. Charlie threw herself against him, holding on tight as she closed her eyes and took in every little detail her mind could remember about this moment; the way his arms felt around her body, the he held her so close without hurting her, the way he pressed his face against her neck so that his goatee tickled her pulse point. His lips brushed ever so softly against her skin for a feather light kiss that sent a shiver down Charlie's spine. She sighed contently, her arms hugging him a little tighter, not wanting to let go just yet.

When they finally pulled apart, Charlie sat back against the wall, rubbing her eyes. That emotional rollercoaster had drained the last of her energy, and now all she wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the day. "What time is it?" she asked.

Van looked down at his watch and replied, "Almost seven." Charlie groaned her discontent with the time and rubbed her eyes again as a yawn escaped her lips. He stood up and extended his hand towards her. She took it, allowing him to pull her up off the bathroom floor.

"I've gotta be at work in four hours," Charlie whined as they made their way into Evie's bedroom and towards her bed.

"Screw work," Van said with a playful smile.

"I can't do that!" she protested. "My boss would kill me! I've already pulled this stunt too many times, she said. She also said if I did it again without a valid reason, she'd fire me. That's the last thing I need."

"You know how many times Billie has said that to me? And you know how many times I've still managed to keep by job? More than you can count," Van told her. "Go sleep. If you really are afraid of losing your job, I'll wake you up in three and a half hours."

Charlie pulled the covers off the bed and laid down on the right side. Almost immediately after her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light. Van sat down beside her for a moment and watched her sleep. She seemed so peaceful now that her mind was at ease. The night before, it felt like there was a dark cloud hanging over her head as he watched her doze in the bathroom. But now her body had relaxed, a calm having settled over her like a cleansing rain washing away the hurt and the pain. Van pulled the covers up to her shoulders and lay down beside her, hoping to get in a little rest before Billie decided it was time to yell at him again for being late to work. He set his phone to go off at 10:30 and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed then snuggled up next to Charlie, falling asleep almost instantly not realized just how tired he was as well.

* * *

Something was beeping just a few feet away, waking Charlie from a dreamless sleep. She tried to throw her arm out and stop it, but it was blocked by something, err, someone. Van was at her side again, asleep like he had been before in the bathroom. The beeping coming from the nightstand beside him didn't seem to faze him at all, but it was bugging the hell out of Charlie. She nudged Van in the ribs, only to have him swat her away. "Wake up, Donovan," she tried using his full name. 

"Five more minutes, Mom," he mumbled.

"I'm not your mother," Charlie sternly replied as she pushed his arms away from her and reached over to grab his beeping cell phone. Flipping it open, she stopped the annoying sound by pressing the end button then threw it back on the nightstand.

Van had opened one tired grey green eye and gazed at Charlie through the cobwebs. She ran her fingers through his hair, ruffling it as she smiled. "Wake up, sleepy head," she urged, resting her back against the headboard.

"No," Van mumbled, wrapping an arm around her legs and placing his head in her lap as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. It felt like a deep tissue massage, but better.

Charlie smiled and chuckled, bending down and placing a soft kiss on top of his head. She wanted to return the affection he was giving her because in all her life, the only affection she'd ever been shown was from her father. Feeling it again was so strange and foreign, but it felt better than anything else in the world, and she hoped to God it would never end.

Softly humming to herself, Charlie became lost in her thoughts, not realizing that she had started to sing the tune that was running through her mind. "It isn't your sweet conversation / That brings this sensation / Oh no, its just the nearness of you / When you're in my arms / And I feel you so close to me / All my wildest dreams came true / I need no soft lights to enchant me / If you'll only grant me / The right / To hold you ever so tight / And to feel in the night / The nearness of you."

Her voice carried into Van's ears like a soft lullaby. He looked up at her to make sure it was actually her voice he was hearing and not someone's radio being turned out somewhere else in the condo. Surely enough, Charlie was singing, and unbelievably well as a matter of fact. Another piece of her grand puzzle was falling into place. When the song ended, he sat up and asked, "You sing?"

Charlie looked at him as if he'd just grown another head until she realized she had let her song escape her lips. Her face turned a light shade of red as she tried to turn her head to the side. She hadn't meant for it to slip out like it had, but when she got lost in her thoughts, it always seemed to. This was the first time it had happened with someone being present. She clamped her hand over her mouth and immediately got out of bed. "Shit, I'm going to be late for work," Charlie muttered, rushing out of the room and fleeing from any type of embarrassment she might have just experienced. "Stella!" she yelled once in the living room.

"God, Charlie, go back to sleep," Stella mumbled from the couch, throwing her arm over her eyes.

"Its 10:45 on a Monday morning," Charlie answered, looking for her purse and shoes, which she found in the closet where Leo had stashed them during the party. "You've got class in two hours, and I've got work in fifteen minutes."

"Ah, fuck," Stella replied as she sat up and rubbed her eyes open. "Well, at least I'm not dragging you out of bed today. You feel any better?"

"Yeah, tons," her sister sarcastically retorted, taking a seat on the floor beside the door to put her sneakers on.

Stella stretched before making her way towards Charlie. In a low voice, she asked, "How are things with…"

"Van? Fine," Charlie quickly finished for her as she slipped on her other sneaker and stood up to open the door.

"You two aren't mad at each other anymore?" Stella continued her interrogation as she put on her shoes.

"No," came Charlie's short answer. She had one foot out of the door and was getting ready to make a run for the car when she heard her name being called. "Crap!" Charlie muttered, knowing who it was that wanted to talk to her.

"Charlie, wait," Van was yelling as he ran into the living room, nearly colliding with Stella as she stood up to grab her purse and keys from the closet beside the door. They missed each other by a few inches, both stepping back in the nick of time. "Whoa, Stella, sorry about that!" he apologized, giving her a million dollar smile that she only rolled her eyes at.

"Kill me, why don't cha? Gosh!" Stella tried to do her best Napoleon Dynamite impression with her own grin, stepping out of the door and leaving the two of them to talk out whatever problem they'd run into that morning.

"I'm running late for work," Charlie said as she tried to skirt around talking to Van, but he grabbed her wrist before she stuck her foot out the door again.

"Just tell Stella to speed," he suggested, feeling how tense and rigid she had just become. She was uncomfortable again, and he didn't know why this time. "What's wrong, Charlie? I thought we were past all the drama."

She looked away, stammering, "It's just… It's that… Nobody… I don't like singing in front of people. I get… embarrassed."

"I have seriously got to find a way to break you out of your shell," Van said as he grabbed her other hand to hold onto it. "You've got such a pretty voice. If anything, you should be the one with the record deal, not me."

Charlie's face turned pink again and Van laughed. "You're so modest," she replied, looking up at him once more. Even though she was blushing, there was a smile present on her face.

"I'm telling you the truth. It's your choice whether you believe me or not."

"Okay, I believe you," Charlie finally gave in. "Now will you please let go so I can get to work on time? I'm already running late and Stella is probably getting pissed that I'm not downstairs yet."

"You're full of excuses, aren't you?" Van teased. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers before letting go and saying, "Go on, before you get in trouble. I'll call you tonight."

'Alright," she said over her shoulder as she stepped out of the door and started to run towards Stella's Navigator, which was sitting on the curb waiting for her. "Bye!" Charlie turned back to yell, her smile shining like the morning sun.

"Bye!" Van waved her off as he watched her go. He checked to make sure he had his own keys, cell phone, and wallet before heading out to his car, which he parked down the block. Billie was probably seething by now that he still hadn't shown up to work yet while Deaq was snickering with delight, waiting for all the juicy details like a little school girl. Van nearly laughed at the image the through conjured up. He hopped into the Mustang and roared off towards the Candy Store thinking, 'Hello firing squad.'


	11. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

**Chapter 11: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures**

_I cannot take this anymore  
I'm saying everything I've said before  
All these words they make no sense  
I find bliss in ignorance  
The less I hear the less you'll say  
But you'll find that out anyway  
Just Like before…  
Everything you say to me  
Takes me one step closer to the edge  
And I'm about to break  
I need a little room to breath  
'Cause I'm one step closer to the edge  
And I'm about to break  
-"One Step Closer" Linkin Park_

The back door slammed shut, quickly refocusing Deaq's attention from his pacing boss to his overly joyful partner. With the smile on Van's face being larger than he'd ever seen, there was no doubt in Deaq's mind something had gone right that morning. But before he could ask about the source of his partner's happiness, Billie had already begun to dig into him for being late.

"Do you need a new watch, Van? It's 11:00! You should have been here two hours ago!" she was yelling as Van sauntered up to her desk and sat down in one of the black chairs in front of it, seeming unfazed by her anger. The smile still remained on his face even as she stared him down with her icy blue eyes.

"I was doing exactly what you asked me to do," came Van's cocky reply.

"Which is what; playing lover boy with Charlie Edwards?" Billie snapped back.

"My job," he sternly answered, giving her one of his own sharp looks. "You're the one who told me I had to get close to her and find out what else she knew about Sterling that wasn't in her journals and tapes. What's your problem now, Billie?"

Billie stared at him for a long moment. She knew he was fishing for something to throw back at her, something she refused to admit, even to herself. But her thoughts quickly changed to the sharp comment she knew she had to make, considering Van's track record with female marks and women in general. "Do not, under any circumstance, sleep with Charlie Edwards, or, even worse, fall in love with her! This is a case, Van, and I want you to treat it like one. I don't care how sad her story is, or how much you want to help her, you're going to do your job and find out what happened in Chicago four years ago. Do I make myself clear?"

"But Billie…" Van started to protest before he was cut off.

"Do I make myself clear?" Billie's voice became as cold as her eyes as she glared at the idiot she called her employee.

"Crystal," Van growled as he shot up off his chair and started to head back out the door.

"HEY! Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet!" Billie shouted, but Van kept going. He raised his right hand, middle finger extended; a big "fuck you" gesture needing to be expressed as he walked out the door, allowing it to slam shut behind him.

"What the hell is your problem, Billie?" Deaq finally dug into her just as she had done to Van. He felt sorry for the poor guy. He just wanted to help people, but she always gave him flack about it.

"He's always getting himself wrapped around someone's finger!" she yelled back. "He needs to learn that he can't help everyone! I mean, I know Charlie's family and friends came to us for help, but he doesn't need to complicate matters even more by sleeping with her or falling in love with her."

"You didn't need to be calling him shallow when you know he wasn't! And you definitely don't need to be betting with him to prove himself, because you know he will!" Deaq was getting even angrier at his boss for the ways she always seemed to find a person's weakness and exploit it for her own purposes. "I don't understand you, Billie. One minute you think Van's a total player, and the next you don't want him to get close to the mark like he's supposed to. What's up with that?"

Billie glared at him for a couple of moments before answering, "I'm sick of having to tend to his broken heart every time some girl breaks it. He needs to learn the difference between this life and real life; that they're not supposed to intersect!"

"Rules are meant to be broken." Deaq stood up and left as well, getting sick of having to argue with his boss over some of the stupidest aspects of their job. They all fell in love at one time or another while on assignment. It didn't make them any less of a cop for doing it. If anything, it made them more human to get involved. It gave them all the more reason to go after what they needed. Right now, Van needed to get close to Charlie, and if that meant exposing a little of his Van Ray side, then so be it! Besides, Deaq doubted that Van Strummer came out while he was with Charlie. He seemed too much like himself while he was around her; down to earth, caring, and real.

Stepping outside, Deaq could see that his partner was still around, sitting in the Mustang, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Van was beyond pissed, especially with Billie's assumptions that he'd do the unthinkable and actually fall in love with this girl. He might have started to like her, but that didn't automatically mean that he'd fall for her. Deaq opened the passenger's door and sat down beside his partner.

"She's messed up in the head, you know," he said, trying to comfort him.

"No shit," Van replied, letting go of the steering wheel after one last squeeze. He looked over at his friend, his eyes still filled with anger and confusion. "How am I supposed to do my job if she keeps telling me what I can and can't do?!"

"For once, I think you shouldn't listen to her and just do what you think is necessary to get this girl to talk to you," Deaq advised. "There's a lot we still need to find out about Charlie's father and his connection to Sterling. I know he mentioned something about CD's while we were at his place, but what do they have to do with his operation?"

"I dunno, man," Van sighed, starting the engine. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm hungry." The two pulled out of the Candy Store parking lot and headed to the closest restaurant, which was about a block away. It happened to be a small diner beside a flower shop. Van found a parking spot in front of the shop, but as he was just about to get out of the car, his cell phone began to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket and checking the number, he reached over and grabbed Deaq's shirt, making sure he didn't get out of the car as he answered. "Hello, Hunter." Deaq shot a quick look at him and sat back in his seat, wanting to know what was going on.

"Hello, Van. How are you?" Sterling replied in that upbeat, almost snide voice that irritated the hell out of him.

"I'm good. What's up?"

"Well, I've lined up some musicians for you to listen to before we start recording your album and I was wondering if you could come in on Friday and take a listen, see who sounds the best to you."

"Oh, um… Friday?" Van questioned, remembering he'd asked Charlie out on a date that Friday.

"You don't have anything planned, do you? Because if you do, you're going to have to change those plans. This is of utmost importance right now. We need to start recording that album and start finding that perfect sound then get your name out there," Sterling sounded quite convincing.

Van knew there was no way out of this situation, so he swallowed his pride and answered, "I'll change my plans. No need to worry. I'll be there whenever you need me."

"Good, Van. I'll see you Friday. Goodbye."

The phone clicked off, signaling to Van that this conversation was over. He put his phone back into his pocket and glanced over at Deaq. "Great…" he said. "Sterling wants me to check out musicians on Friday. I have a date with Charlie that night. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Move up the date," Deaq dumbly suggested, glaring at his partner for being such an idiot. He glanced over at the flower shop and added, "Send her some roses or something as an apology and maybe she won't be so pissed at you for having to change it."

"Great idea," Van commented as he rushed out of the car and practically ran into the flower shop. This was uncharted territory for him since he'd never really sent anyone flowers before. Walking up and down the aisles, he started to pick up flowers he thought Charlie would like. It didn't take him long to get a bouquet he liked and bring it up to the counter where a woman in her earlier forties with short blond hair and bright blue eyes stood arranging a large bridal bouquet of white and pink roses. Her nametag read Elizabeth.

"Good morning," she greeted in her Tennessee accent when Van approached her. He gave her a smile as he set down the flowers on the white linoleum countertop.

"Hello," Van politely replied. Elizabeth took the flowers from him and looked them over, a strange, almost sour expression coming to her pleasant face. Van started to frown, wondering if he'd made some kind of mistake with the flowers, or if he wasn't supposed to have picked them himself. "What?" he asked, starting to worry.

"Um… Are you going to a funeral of a person you don't like?" she responded, still gazing at him strangely.

"No…" Van answered, giving her a questionable look. "They're for my girl… friend… Well, she's not my girlfriend, exactly. She's my friend who happens to be a girl, who I want to date, and… I don't know!" he quickly gave up trying to explain what Charlie was to him.

"Uh-huh," Elizabeth replied, putting her hands on her hips as she moved out from behind the counter. "Well, son, you definitely picked the wrong flowers for your lady friend," she continued, taking the same path down the aisles as he'd taken, but looking at other flowers that he hadn't considered.

"How's that?" Van asked, following her through the shop. She turned and glanced at him in a thoughtful way.

"You see, all flowers have meaning. The ones you picked out are sending the wrong one. The anemone stands for being forsaken, the begonia stands for beware, the marigold stands for cruelty, grief, or jealousy, and the oleander stands for caution," Elizabeth explained as she stopped three aisles down where the white flowers were all displayed in their pretty glass vases. She picked up several white lilies and handed them to Van. "These will tell her that she's sweet, while these," Elizabeth paused to pick up several white amaryllis buds, "will tell her that she's beautiful."

"You got anything in here to tell her that I'm sorry?" Van bashfully asked as he gladly took the flowers from the woman and sniffed them to make sure they were just perfect.

"Hmm…" Elizabeth thought for a moment before she proceeded to walk a little farther down the aisle to a selection of different colored hyacinth flowers. She picked several purple ones, giving them to Van for a sniff. "These should convey that message pretty well," she finally answered with a smile. "Do you mind me asking why you're sorry?"

"Oh, I have to reschedule our date on Friday night and I don't want her to be angry," Van explained, a slight blush coming over his cheeks.

"Oh, honey, you have nothing to worry about! You send her these flowers and she'll be perfectly happy!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she grabbed his arm and led him back to the front of the shop where the counter was. She proceeded to ring him up as he picked out one of the little cards beside the register and started to scribble out a message to Charlie explaining what was going on; all the while Elizabeth found the perfect vase to put the flowers in. She arranged them so there was a splash of purple in specific places among all the white, and when Van was finished with his note, she attached it to the vase with a simple white ribbon.

"Wow, that's beautiful," Van was amazed at how well the arrangement had turned out. He was so glad that he'd gone with the woman's suggestions instead of following his own male instinct and possibly screwing everything up with the flowers.

"I'm glad you like 'em," Elizabeth replied as she continued to fuss with the flowers. "Where would you like them sent, doll?"

Van stared at her as if she'd just grown a second head, realizing he had no idea where Charlie worked, or even what she did for a living. That was one thing Stella and the others hadn't filled him in on, probably thinking he'd find out soon enough. Again, he'd resort to calling her, hoping that she'd answer considering she had class that afternoon. Van quickly found her number in his contacts list and dialed, waiting impatiently for her to pick up.

"What is it, Van? I've got class in five minutes!" Stella whispered in an angry tone.

"Where does Charlie work?" Van asked.

"Oh, my God. What are you going to do now?" she replied.

"I'm sending her flowers," he answered. "Address, please. The woman's waiting."

Stella quickly gave him the address to Charlie's office, which he scribbled down and gave to Elizabeth. "Do not call me again unless it's an emergency," Stella said before she hung up and put her phone on silent.

Van stuck his phone back into his pocket, giving the woman behind the counter a large fake smile, embarrassed as hell for what had just transpired between him and Stella.

Elizabeth looked at the name on the card and replied, "Charlie should get these in an hour or so. Good luck."

"Thank you," Van replied as he headed out the door to where Deaq was waiting for him outside. "That's taken care of."

"Good, now let's go get some food," his partner answered.

* * *

Charlie yawned. Her elbow rested on her frosted glass desk while her head sat atop her hand as she tried to keep her tired hazel eyes open. This always seemed to happen after a night of heavy drinking. She wouldn't get enough sleep, resulting in an awful headache the following morning and an even worse case of poor work performance. But Charlie could almost always get away with saying she had creative block. Being a graphic designer had its perks. Too bad some of its pitfalls included short deadlines, one of which was today. Using the creative block excuse was not going to work when there was a half finished project on her desk that needed to be done by that afternoon. 

Rubbing her sore eyes, Charlie stared out the window of her corner office with a view of LA's smog filled city. She sighed, wishing she was back at home in her bed, sleeping. Although it hadn't taken her long to get into a position of high stature and respect (junior VP of marketing), it was quite boring, making her already fickle creativity all that much worse. College had been so much fun compared to this, with projects that actually sparked her interest. But she was beginning to learn that the corporate world was a lot more hum drum than college.

Charlie had graduated in less than three years, taking summer classes and extra credit hours to complete her BA in graphic design. It helped take her mind off all the events going on in her life that she just wanted to crawl under a rock and completely forget about. Not long after graduation, she managed to get a job with one of Chicago's top advertising agencies, and with those references managed to land a job with one of LA's most prestigious advertising firms, the Mercer Group. Even though she loved the company she worked for, she hated her boss and some of the projects that came across her desk almost bored her to death, like right now.

With her head flopping to the cool glass desk, Charlie groaned, "Uh… I wanna go home!" A moment later, a knock came from her open door, and her head shot up once more, hoping it wasn't her boss.

"Chi-Chi!" exclaimed her best, and probably only, friend in the firm, Chloe Patterson, in that bright, cheery voice Charlie sometimes got irritated with, especially now. Chloe was her assistant and partner in crime; a blonde bombshell with a set of sparkling blue eyes, a body every guy almost threw himself at, and a creative sense that sometimes caught people off guard. She was quite popular among the male designers, but always kept her wits about her. There was no doubt when she spoke people's heads turned, and not only because she was gorgeous, but because she was also very smart, breaking the dumb blonde stereotype.

"Oh, Chloe, thank God!" Charlie replied, gesturing her to come in. She quickly noticed the beautiful arrangement of white lilies, white amaryllis, and purple hyacinth, and asked, "Who are they from today?" Chloe always seemed to be getting flowers from her admirers at work. There would be at least one bouquet on her desk each week. It made Charlie somewhat jealous, but she always shrugged it off.

"Actually," Chloe hesitantly answered as she set the flowers down on Charlie's desk and stepped back, "they're for you."

Charlie's jaw went slack and she gave Chloe a bewildered look before saying, "What? From who?" She was beyond surprised.

"Well, I thought they were for me, but then I read the card and saw your name on it," Chloe explained, sitting down on one of the black cloth chairs in front of the desk. "So, who's this Van guy? Is he cute? Does he have a brother?" And so the interrogation began. "He sounds like a really sweet guy; very romantic."

"Chloe!" Charlie scolded as she turned the beautiful glass vase until she spotted the card tied to the simple white ribbon.

"What? I thought they were for me! Chloe, Charlie, they almost sound the same. Besides, the first two letters are the same. Sorry," she replied. "Don't worry, I didn't read the whole thing."

Charlie rolled her eyes before opening the card and starting to read it.

_Hey, Beautiful. I hope you're having a good day, considering how crappy you felt last night. I just wanted to send you something to brighten your afternoon and hopefully get you through the rest of your day. And if you're wondering how I found out where you worked, blame Stella. She told me. Anyway, I do have an ulterior motive for sending you flowers. Don't be mad, but I have to change our plans for Friday. Something came up. If you want, we can push it back or move it forward, whatever sounds good to you. I'm free tomorrow, if you wanna move it up. Give me a call when you get a chance. –Van_

"So why is he apologizing?" Chloe asked when she saw her friend fold the note back up and a wide smile begin to crawl over her lips.

"I thought you said you didn't read the whole thing!" Charlie retorted, her eyes shooting up to glare at her assistant.

"The purple hyacinth gave it away," Chloe answered. She got a confused look from Charlie and explained, "They usually symbolize an apology of some sort. And judging from your earlier answer, Van is apologizing for something and kissing some serious ass with the white lilies and amaryllis because they tell you you're sweet and beautiful. So, what'd he do?"

The blush had built up on Charlie's cheeks as she listened to her friend's answer. In some far off dreamland, she began to fantasize about Van and what it would be like on their first date. But that would have to wait since Chloe was trying to get her attention.

"Earth to Charlie, come in, Charlie," she jokingly said, waving her hand in front of Charlie's face. "You can daydream later. I want some answers now. Who is Van? How did you meet him? Is he cute? Why is he apologizing?"

"Oh, Chloe," Charlie sighed before telling her the whole story of how she met Van and the train wreck that seemed to follow them around. It took her a good amount of their free time to explain things thoroughly, especially with Chloe's incessant questions, but when she finally got to the flowers, it all made sense. "He sent them to me because something came up on Friday. Sterling is probably trying to get him in the studio, so I'm gonna try and not be a bitch about it like I have been. He say's he's free tomorrow, but I don't know," Charlie finished up.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Chloe asked, becoming deadly seriously.

"No… Yes… Maybe…" Charlie was always afraid of that look. It meant Chloe wasn't about to sugar coat anything. Honest really was honest with her.

"You should pick up that phone, call him, then tell him that tomorrow is perfectly fine," Chloe answered firmly, crossing her arms over her busty chest and giving Charlie that dead serious look, blue eyes cold and unflinching.

"Oh… Okay," Charlie stuttered as she pulled out her phone and began to search through her recent calls for Van's number. Pressing the call button, she nervously waited for him to pick up while Chloe sat in front of her, arms still folded across her chest as they both stared at each other in dead silence.

"Charlie, what's up?" Van answered after the second ring.

"Hey, Van," Charlie replied in her best impression of a happy person. 'Damn, why'd he have to pick up?' she silently asked herself, wishing she'd gotten his voicemail instead. Charlie hated having to make conversation on the phone while other people were sitting there listening in. She much rather liked her privacy, especially with Van. If she'd gotten his voicemail, they could have talked later about this, when she was alone. But that wasn't going to happen now, was it? "I got the flowers," she continued anyway. "They definitely made my day. Thank you so much."

"So, you're not mad at me?" Van asked, sounding hopeful.

"No, of course not," Charlie reassured him.

"Oh, good." He sounded relieved. "So about tomorrow…"

"I'll be free after five," she finished, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible so Chloe would get out of her office and on with her work. This was getting really annoying. She just wanted to be alone!

"Great!" Van exclaimed, his joy seeming to magically float over the telephone line and right into her. Charlie smiled, glancing up at Chloe, who was smiling back reassuringly. "Do you wanna do anything in particular?"

"I'm partial to anything," Charlie replied. "You decide because decision making isn't one of my strong points. Surprise me if you want."

"Alright, um… I'll see what I can come up with and I'll call you later on tonight," Van said.

"That's fine," she answered. Charlie glanced at Chloe, who had been leaning back in the chair with a bit smile on her face. Her ears had perked up suddenly, suggesting that someone from the office was coming. Chloe got up to check, quickly returning as she shut the door behind her. She made a slashing motion with her hand over her neck, indicating that one of the higher ups was on their way. "I've gotta get back to work. There's a project sitting on my desk that needs to be finished by this afternoon or my boss is going to kill me."

"Well, don't let me be the reason you get in trouble," Van replied. "I guess I'll talk to you later then."

"Okay, bye!" Charlie hurriedly ended their conversation, straightening up her desk to make it look like she had been working.

"Bye," he said before hanging up.

Charlie put her cell phone back into her pocket just as a knock came at her door. It opened to reveal her boss holding a Styrofoam cup full of coffee and a stack of papers. "Hello, Charlie," said the woman with the flaming red hair, sharp green eyes, and thin lithe body. She was wearing the proper business attire of a black three piece suit with a white blouse beneath the jacket. Ever since Charlie had met the woman, she'd felt this awful vibe about her, like she was evil or something. That notion quickly turned into a reality the first day she started work at the firm when she'd made Charlie's life a living nightmare, always nitpicking at her work, giving her grief about everything she did, and never letting up on making her feel like she was lower than pond scum even though she was pretty high up on the corporate ladder.

Glancing at Charlie, the woman's face immediately soured as she added, "This isn't casual Monday, you know."

"I'm sorry, Margaret," Charlie quickly apologized, eyeing her apparel choice from the day before. At least it was better than going in with a tank top and shorts. Charlie knew she should have changed, but that would have meant not making it to work on time. It was better if her boss nitpicked her outfit than to chew her out about being late yet again.

"Where are the proofs for the project?" Margaret sharply asked, unloading the stack of papers on her employee's desk. "I need them by three this afternoon. The meeting's at five. I have to have time to prepare."

"They'll be on your desk in an hour," Charlie meekly answered, too afraid to say anything else fearing it would only cause her more trouble.

"Good," Margaret said, her lips curling into an evil smile just before she gestured to the papers she had laid on the desk. "This is your new project. It's for Kraft's newest product line. I want you to start on this as soon as you finish that other project."

"Yes, ma'am," Charlie quietly replied, not making eye contact. She felt as if she was talking to her mother when she talked to her boss. The woman just had a way of making her feel like she had no respect for her life and that she was just about as meaningful as the dirt under her pointy toed black stiletto heels. Charlie wished she could just get the hell out of there right now and got home to take a well deserved nap after such a long, hard weekend. Feeling like shit wasn't helping her any.

Margaret was about to turn and walk out of Charlie's office when she noticed the flowers sitting on her desk. It was then that she acknowledged Chloe's presence when she snidely said, "Nice flowers, Chloe."

"They're not mine, ma'am. They're Charlie's," Chloe answered, not afraid to make a point with the boss. She had balls, something Charlie wished she had as well. Maybe then people would stop walking all over her.

"Who the hell would send her flowers?" Margaret sneered.

"Her new boyfriend," Chloe answered defiantly.

"New boyfriend?" Margaret seemed unconvinced as she glared at both of the women in front of her before her face cracked into another hurtful smile. She began to snicker, saying, "Ha! That's a good one, Chloe. Try to tell your admirers to stop sending flowers here. My dogs are allergic." Margaret turned on her high black heels and walked out the door.

Chloe let out the breath she didn't realized she'd been holding. "God, I hate that woman!" she exclaimed, closing the door behind her. She walked back to the desk and sat down in one of the black chairs while Charlie turned around to stare out her window. Chloe immediately noticed her shoulders begin to shake and said, "Charlie?"

"Go," Charlie dismissed her without turning around.

"Charlie, don't listen to her!" Chloe tried to reason.

"Just… Go!" Charlie cried from behind her chair. But Chloe wasn't about to take that as an answer. She made her way to the shaking chair and wrapped her arms around Charlie's shoulders.

"Hey, don't cry. Margaret is just a bitch who hasn't gotten any in nearly a century," Chloe said, trying to make her feel better. "She's jealous that you've got someone now and that she doesn't."

"Why does she have to make me feel like dirt?" Charlie wept, putting her head on Chloe's shoulder as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Am I really that worthless? Does my life not have any meaning to her? I think I should just call Van back and tell him that I don't wanna go out tomorrow, that something came up."

"No, you're not," Chloe firmly answered as she stopped Charlie from reaching for her phone by placing her hand over her friend's. "This is just a minor setback that you'll recover from. No use crying over bullshit. Like I said, Margaret is just jealous because you're younger and prettier than she is, and you have a boyfriend."

Charlie rolled her red eyes as a smile appeared on her lips while she tried to make it look like she was still feeling like shit, but Chloe noticed and smiled back at her warmly. "Alright, I won't call him," she mumbled.

"You'd better not!" Chloe teased, standing up to fix her knee length pink floral print skirt and white short sleeve blouse. "You'd better kiss him tomorrow," she randomly added, prompting Charlie to turn her chair around and glare at her.

"Chloe!" she shot back, knowing exactly where that comment was going to lead their conversation.

"Oh, please… You can't keep avoiding it anymore, Charlie. This guy sounds like he'll be the perfect one to have your first kiss with," Chloe pointed out as she started to make her way out of her friend's office. "Later, Chi-Chi. I'll be back in forty-five minutes to pick up that disk with the final proofs of your project so I can have them printed by the time Bitchzilla needs them." She was out the door before Charlie could utter even one snide remark about her inexperience with men.

Only a handful of people knew she'd never been kissed, and of those few, only Chloe ever brought it up. But Charlie didn't really mind. It was something good to think about after the day from hell. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like. Charlie could only hope that it rivaled all those perfect movie kisses she always saw. Even that was being too optimistic. But a girl could dream, couldn't she?


	12. In Need Of A Saving Grace

**Chapter 12: In Need Of A Saving Grace**

_You had a bad day  
You're taking one down  
You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
You say you don't know  
You tell me don't lie  
You work at a smile and you go for a ride  
You had a bad day  
The camera don't lie  
You're coming back down and you really don't mind  
You had a bad day  
You had a bad day  
-"Bad Day" Daniel Powter_

Tears were threatening to fall from Charlie's eyes as she stood in the lobby of her nearly empty office building wondering where her sister was. Stella was supposed to pick her up around seven, but this was being ridiculously late, even for her. It was close to 7:30 now, and there was no sign of her sister anywhere down the street. Charlie had tried calling her several times, but only got her voicemail. Chloe left hours earlier, but she wasn't about to call her, not after what had transpired in the conference room that evening and what they had talked about beforehand.

Margaret had made her feel even lower than she did earlier that afternoon. A few well placed comments about her appearance and work ethic had gotten the entire room laughing, and even worse, almost got her kicked off the account. It took some good persuasive skills on Charlie's part to salvage her job and her dignity, all of which continued to be chipped away at as the meeting continued. By the time it was over, her self esteem had plunged to the lowest it could go. She felt as if she wanted to run out into the street and get hit by a car, thinking it would be less painful than having to deal with all of the negative thoughts going through her mind right now.

But Charlie stayed put, her arm resting on the security guard's counter beside the bouquet of flowers Van had sent her. No matter how many times she looked at them or read his note, nothing seemed to take her mind off all the awful things Margaret had said. She continued to sink deeper and deeper into her pit of self loathing until her phone began to ring.

Without even bothering to look at the caller ID, she answered, "What?"

"Hey, Charlie; is this a bad time?" Van asked, hearing the despair in her voice.

"Um…" Charlie had gotten her wish. She was now alone, talking to him. But the circumstances that surrounded it were all wrong. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now, just sit in her little dumpy world and wish she was someone else. "Maybe," her voice cracked as she tried to stay calm. It wasn't working.

"Charlie, what happened?" Van was quick to ask, hearing her nearly fall apart from the other end. He'd been driving home from the Candy Store, but pulled over so he could find out what was wrong.

"I don't wanna talk about it," she nearly cried, walking away from the security guard's station to sit down on one of the benches in the lobby, her flowers under her arm. She set the vase down beside her and brought her legs up to her chest as she rested her chin on her knees, the tears dripping down her cheeks.

"Don't shut down on me, please. Talk to me," Van nearly begged, trying to get her to open up. "Maybe you'll feel better."

Out of the blue, Charlie asked, "Why do you like me so much? Why are you trying so hard to be my friend? I'm not thin. I'm not pretty. I'm just a big nerd with a fat ass and a rich stepfather. What do you see in me?"

Van sat there for a moment, contemplating his answer. There was so much he could say, but the right words escaped him. He wanted it to be something from his heart, not some bullshit he usually fed to marks to keep them happy. Charlie was too special for that. She was a different kind of mark, one that needed to be cared for and loved, not treated like some case as Billie had referred to her. "I see someone with sad eyes and a big heart, someone who loves more than is loved, someone who needs to be told they're beautiful and sweet and worth more than their weight in gold. I see someone who isn't judgmental, someone I can act like myself with, even if it means being a big mushy nerd. Everyone sees me as a player with an agenda, which isn't true. I'm just like you, dorky on the inside, cool on the outside. I just wanna make people smile and laugh," he finally said, leaning back in his seat and wondering if he needed to say anything else to make her see that she was special to him. Instead, he heard crying from the other end and shot up, gunning the engine. "Charlie?"

Several seconds passed before she finally answered, "I don't deserve you." Charlie wiped the tears away from her face with the sleeve of her hoodie wondering how the hell she managed to land the man of her dreams.

"Of course you do. Every woman deserves someone who will treat her with respect," Van said, relaxing once more as he laid off the gas pedal.

"I wish my boss saw it that way," Charlie mumbled. "That bitch treats me worse than the dirt on the bottom of her shoes."

"Do you need me to teach her a lesson?" Van honestly asked.

"No, I just… I wish I had more of a backbone while dealing with her. And even if I did, she'd probably find another way to shoot me down and make me feel like I'm worthless, like she did today during my meeting with the client. I almost lost my job because of some of the things she said," Charlie explained, the tears still dripping from her puffy red eyes.

"What'd she say?" Van calmly asked even though he felt the urge to jump out of the car and pummel something. He knew this wasn't going to be good, so he braced himself for the worst, which wasn't even close to what he expected.

"Well, first she started to tell the client that my choice of clothing usually reflected my work ethic, bad and ugly, and then when I grabbed a bagel off the tray at the center of the table, she started to talk about my weight and my eating habits. The entire fucking conference room was laughing at me!" Charlie started to cry again as she held her head up with her arm. "I've never felt so embarrassed in my entire life! I just wanted to curl up and die! How could she do that to me! I hadn't eaten all day! That was my first real piece of food since yesterday morning. I've been living off of coffee for the last 36 hours. I put it down and didn't touch it again because I felt all their eyes on me when I even glanced down at it."

"Oh, God, Charlie, I'm so sorry," Van wanted to rush over to wherever she was and hug her. She'd been through so much that day it pained him to even think about it. Never in his life had he seen someone treated worse than she was being treated right now. No wonder she had such a negative outlook on life and barely trusted anyone. Who wouldn't after all of this?

"But that's not all. You should have heard all the awful things she said earlier in the afternoon," Charlie continued as if she hadn't even heard him. "You see, my assistant, Chloe, usually gets flowers on a weekly basis, and when your flowers came in today for me, Margaret refused to believe they were mine, so she laughed at both of us and told Chloe to tell her admirers to stop sending her flowers at work because her dogs were allergic."

Van was seething after hearing that, his hands grasping the steering wheel of the Mustang until the knuckles turned white. He really wanted to burst into Charlie's office the next morning and punch this woman in the face for the way she treated her. But he had to remain calm. It wouldn't do either of them any good if he went through with that plan. Charlie could possibly lose her job and Van would probably end up in jail for something Billie won't spring him for, or, even worse, the case would be blown to pieces. Nobody wanted that, most of all him. Instead, he took several deep breaths and replied, "If there's anything I can do to make you feel better, just ask."

"How about you be my knight in shining armor and pick me up from this hell hole I call my office? Stella forgot to come get me and she's not answering her phone when I try to call her," Charlie replied. "I don't wanna call Evie either. She's just gonna start bothering me about why I'm crying, and I don't feel like telling her what I just told you."

"I understand," Van said, making a U-turn back towards the city. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Great. I'll see you then," Charlie answered, wiping away the rest of her tears. "Oh, and Van…"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"It's no problem. I'd do anything for you."

Charlie smiled before she hung up. It was her first smile since that afternoon. She continued to hug her legs as she sat on the bench, her chin resting on her knees. Van had been right; she did feel a lot better after talking to him about what happened. A sigh of relief escaped Charlie's lungs as she closed her eyes, exhausted from such a long day. When she heard one of the many glass doors swish open and the sound of footsteps heading in her direction, her head shot up, hazel eyes meeting with grey green.

Charlie practically leapt off the bench straight into Van's arms, hugging him tightly as she started to cry again. It was an impulse, she knew, especially when she felt safe around someone. The tears would just start to fall on their own free will as she held on for dear life. Luckily for her, Van wasn't about to let go. He ran his hand up and down her back in a comforting motion, patiently waiting for her to calm down before pulling away.

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled as she finally pulled back, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her hoodie.

"Don't be," Van replied, pulling her hands away from her face and wiping away the rest of her tears with his fingers as they gazed into each other's eyes. There was a warm, reassuring smile on his lips, telling her that everything was going to be okay and that she need not worry anymore. It was a feeling Charlie hadn't felt in nearly four years. She smiled back, a couple more tears sliding down her cheeks.

A few feet away, the elevator chimed, its doors opening to reveal the last of the building's employees making their way home. Among them was Margaret, her two pure white poodles in tow. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Charlie standing with a young man who appeared a little older than she was in the lobby. The old woman proceeded to walk towards them, her dog's jingling collars alerting the pair before she approached.

"Shit," Charlie whispered, seeing her boss walking in their direction. Van turned around, his sharp, angry grey green eyes narrowing at the older woman. She stopped dead in her tracks, the look startling her into submission. The old hag quickly turned on her heels, making a beeline for the door.

"That's right, keep walking," Van shouted in anger as she exited the building.

The smile on Charlie's face began to grow as she watched Margaret retreat like a scared pigeon. "What'd you do?" she asked in amazement while Margaret rushed into her car, tires squealing as she jumped away from the curb.

Van shrugged, "I just gave her a look, I guess."

"A look?" Charlie sounded skeptical, but she giggled anyway, picking up the vase with the flowers. "You'd better not give me that look, because I will kick your ass if you do."

"I'd never give you that kind of look," Van defended himself before he took her hand and led her out the door to the Mustang. "Your chariot awaits, my lady," he said, rushing to open her door.

"Why thank you, good sir," Charlie replied, getting in and immediately being struck by the awesome beauty of the car. She set the vase down at her feet and glanced at her surroundings. It was just like she dreamed, completely restored and magnificent, exactly like in the movie. "Oh, god…" she practically moaned, sitting back in the warm leather seat as Van got in and started the engine. "Oh, good god…" The sound of the engine made her heart skip a beat.

He couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped his lips as he watched Charlie with wonder. Her reaction was nothing like he'd expected. It was actually more like his own when he first laid eyes on the car. "Don't get too comfy," Van warned, pulling out into the street. "I gotta give this back to Billie in a couple of days."

"Do you really have to?" Charlie whined, gliding her hands over the black leather.

"Unfortunately, I do," Van apologized. "But don't worry, I'll steal it every once in a while and take you out in it." That made her smile again. He gunned the engine, roaring through a yellow light and giving Charlie one hell of a thrill. She giggled as she glanced over at him with those big hazel eyes from behind her wire rimmed glasses. "You still hungry?" he asked, spotting a couple of fast food joints down the road.

"Uh, yeah!" Charlie dumbly replied. "I'm starving!"

"Well, you've got several choices, or do you have decision making skills when it comes to fast food as well?" Van teased.

"Shut up!" she shot back, whacking him in the arm as he chuckled at her. "I'm perfectly capable of choosing what I want to eat for dinner." But Charlie decided to be funny and mess with his head for what he'd said and started to wonder out loud, "What am I craving tonight?" She glanced around at the different fast food places that were around and added, "Hmm… Wendy's… Not really. McDonald's… Too greasy. KFC… icky. Taco Bell… Maybe. Burger King… No way."

"Decide already!" Van was getting impatient.

"Alright!" Charlie playfully snapped, "Taco Bell."

Van made a sharp right turn into the parking lot of the fast food restaurant and got behind an old beat up white Blazer in the drive thru lane. "Please don't tell me you're gonna take forever to order, too," he groaned.

"I already know what I want," she answered, that jovial grin playing on her lips as she leaned back in her seat. Charlie knew what she wanted, and knew how she was going to order it.

As soon as the Blazer pulled up to the window, Van turned to her and asked, "What do you want?"

"I want three soft shell taco supremes," Charlie started. Van sighed with relief, but then she said, "I'm not done yet." He stared at her for a moment as she added, "The first one I want with a little bit of tomato, lots of lettuce and over flowing with cheese, with a SMALL dollop of sour cream. The second one I want with a slight sprinkling of cheese, lettuce, the crispy stuff, nothing limp, no tomato and lots of onion. And the last one I want with no cheese, a quarter teaspoon of hot sauce, half a tablespoon of sour cream, guacamole, and a sprinkling of green onion. And for a drink I want a large Sprite, easy on the ice. I don't find the fecal matter in it appealing."

Van's mouth hung open as he stared at her in disbelief. Charlie wanted him to repeat that to the cashier? Oh, no… He wasn't about to do that. Instead, when he pulled up to the speaker box, he said, "I'll have three soft shell taco supremes and a large Sprite, easy on the ice."

"Van!" Charlie jokingly shot back as she started to giggle.

"Even my boss isn't this difficult," he mumbled as he got his total and pulled up to the window. Charlie couldn't stop laughing as Van glared at her. She even had a hard time pulling out a five dollar bill from her pocket because she couldn't stop giggling. "What's so funny?" he growled.

"I told you I didn't have any problems with making decisions about what I wanted to eat," Charlie shot back as she placed the bill in his hand.

"You're awful!" Van replied, turning his head in the direction of the road after the woman behind the window had given them their food and their change.

"I know." Charlie grinned wide. "But you still like me anyway."

"Unfortunately," he said under his breath. She stuck her tongue out at him as she grabbed the first taco out of the bag and began to munch on it slowly. "Be careful with the seats and the food," Van warned.

"Ooh, afraid I'm gonna spill something?" Charlie teased as she mockingly started to shake her drink. She could see the color drain from his face and stopped. "Don't worry, I'm not that mean. If I did spill something, I'd probably shoot myself in the foot. I could never ruin a car like this."

The color slowly returned to Van's face when he realized that she was right. Her only intentions had been to mess with his head, and now that she was done and eating her dinner, they sat in a comfortable silence as he drove down the open road back towards the Hills. Van turned on the radio and started to tune the station until he found one that was actually playing music. "Welcome to my Californian home / You don't have to call me you can leave when you want / There's a picture by my bed / There's a light in your eyes / I don't know / Tell me 'cause I want to find out / Do you still feel alone?"

"Turn it up," Charlie said, starting on her second taco. "I _love_ this song. Darren Hayes is one of my all time favorite artists, as is Savage Garden."

"You are such a nerd," Van teased, doing as he was told and turning up the radio.

"So are you," Charlie teased back after taking a bite out of her taco.

"Love is illusive when you search for it / Don't I know / Happiness sometimes it just creeps in / Don't I know / I'm going crazy / I've been wondering / Do you still feel alone?" the song continued. A slight twinge of sadness clouded over Charlie's eyes as she became lost in the lyrics, the taco in her hand completely forgotten. She set it back down in its wrapped and rolled it up again, saving it for later. Her eyes fell on the road ahead of them as it opened up into lush vegetation and rolling hills.

"Can we take a detour?" Charlie asked out of nowhere. "I don't wanna go home yet."

"Sure," Van didn't hesitate, but he still asked, "why?" She didn't answer, though, just stared out the window as the sky above them turned a beautiful shade of the purple as the sun began to set in the west. "Did you have any place in mind?" Charlie shook her head, her mouth remaining shut.

"Take me somewhere far away from here," she whispered.

"I got a cottage with a sea view / I got a regular summer tan / I know that I deserve more / But I still want you / Welcome to my Californian home / You don't have to call me you can leave when you want / There's a picture by my bed / There's a light in your eyes / I don't know / Tell me 'cause I want to find out / Do you still feel?" the song went on as Charlie completely lost touch with the world around her and started to sing the lyrics to herself. She didn't care if anyone heard her this time. There was so much pent up pain and anger and loss in her heart that she needed to find a way to release it without being self destructive. This song had been her escape many times before as it was now.

Van listened to her emotion filled voice and realized just how much meaning these lyrics had for her. He reached over and placed his hand on hers, prompting her to turn her head and stared at him for a moment, a single tear dripping from her eyes. 'Oh, no, here we go again,' he thought, sensing her need for release. He felt sorry for Charlie and all that she had to live through. His heart ached seeing her in so much pain. He wanted to pull her into a tight hug and never let go.

"Talk to me," Van whispered, pulling onto a dirt road as the song ended. He laced his fingers with Charlie's and waited for her to look at him again.

Her head turned slowly, revealing the tears she continued to shed. Today was just not her day, it seemed. "I wanna go home," she softly wept, barely taking notice of his thumb gently tracing circles over her hand.

"You want me to turn around?" Van asked as he was parking the car.

"No, not that home," Charlie replied, wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her hoodie. "I wanna go home to Chicago, and my life before my father was killed. Being in LA has been nothing but a nightmare. Sterling hates me, my boss hates me, hell, even my so called friends hate me. I miss my real family and friends, the ones who I've had since I was a little girl. I miss my old job. I miss the places we used to hang out. I miss my father!" Charlie pulled open her door and rushed outside, even more tears streaming down her face as she ran away from the car towards the end of the open area, only to stop a few feet from the edge of a cliff. She stared out across the wide expanse of the ocean and the rolling waves beneath her.

"Charlie!" Van yelled as he ran after her, hoping she wouldn't throw herself off the cliff.

"I'm not gonna jump," she shouted back, stepping away from the ledge and finding a soft patch of grass to sit on a few feet away from it with a great view of the ocean and surrounding scenery. Curling up into a little ball, Charlie let her head fall to her knees, her tears continuing to rain down. She wished for a moment that she had jumped, hoping it would release her from this awful prison she knew as her life, but her thoughts soon focused on the man standing behind her, out of breath and probably scared to death.

"Good," Van heaved, plopping down beside her, "because I probably would have drown trying to save you. Those waves are a bitch."

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled, curling her body a little tighter around herself as she watched the waves crashing into the shore. "I've just had a really, really bad day. I'm not usually this emotional."

"It's okay," Van softly replied, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a warm embrace. "I shouldn't have pried."

"I just feel…" she searched for the right words to describe how she felt around him. It took her a moment before she finally added, "safe… around you. It's like I can tell you anything and I don't have to worry about what you'll think of me. The only other person who has ever made me feel that way was my father. There was this one time when he was trying to teach me how to ride a bike and I fell and scraped my knee. He put a bandage on it and kissed my tears away then gave me a bowl of ice cream before taking me back outside to try again. His motto was: 'When life kicks you down, get up and kick it back.' He always said that to me when I felt like giving up. I've been saying that to myself when times have gotten hard."

Van merely smiled down at her, his hand gently rubbing her back as she nestled her head against his shoulder. Charlie looked up for a couple of moments and smiled back. "You remind me of him," she continued, her hand reaching up to lightly stroke his cheek. "A little in the face, but mostly in the eyes; his were hazel like mine, but you have the same look, the same expressive features."

"Well, apparently women tend to date men that are much like their fathers," Van replied.

"Oh, God! Don't ever say that again," Charlie groaned, giving him a light poke in the side with her finger, which she soon realized was one of his sensitive areas. She continued to poke him until he swatted her hand away.

"Stop that," Van growled.

"Or what?" Charlie challenged, her devious eyes giving away her intent. She didn't wait for an answer; instead she immediately began to tickle him. His laughter was more than enough to put a smile on her face as she continued to look for all the right places he hated to be touched.

As her fingers roamed over his body, Van's own hands reached out, trying to find some leverage. Charlie's ribcage was his first target, and when he heard that high pitched shriek fill the night air followed by the sound of her laughter, he knew he was on the right track. He wrestled her to the ground as she kept trying to get him back for what he was doing to her, but she couldn't, and almost completely gave up. She was heaving by the time she cried, "Uncle!" More tears had streamed from her eyes, but they were tears of joy instead of pain.

Van stopped; proud that he had won the tickle fight. But he didn't move when he realized she was pinned beneath his body. His hands moved to the sides of her face, gently brushed back strands of her multi colored hair that had fallen out of place. Their lips were inches apart, a tempting predicament for Van. He wanted to steal a kiss at that very moment, but refrained, fearing that it might scare her away. Instead, he continued to gaze down into her deep hazel eyes, the smile ever present on his face. His body shifted so none of his weight was on her, and almost too soon, the moment was gone.

Charlie started to push away, feeling uncomfortable by the turn of events. Her first instinct was to make a joke about the situation, but she didn't want to hurt Van's feelings, especially after all he'd done for her that day. She sat up instead, and waited for him to sit beside her again. He somehow ended up behind her, though, his long, lean legs falling to either side of her body as he pressed his chest against her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. "That was fun," Van whispered in her ear, his chin resting on her shoulder.

Charlie nodded. "Where are we?" she asked suddenly, realizing that the sun had set a while ago and that the pale moon was casting shadows into the night.

"Some place I discovered a while ago when I needed a little time to think," Van answered, his grey green eyes gazing at the moonlit scenery before him. "I come up here every once in a while when I need to get away from the city. Besides, it's not far from my place, so sometimes I just walk. It's very tranquil."

"It's beautiful," Charlie commented, relaxing in his arms while she looked out over the ocean again.

"So are you," Van whispered, his gaze directed at her instead of the scenery.

Charlie could feel the warmth of his breath on the bare skin of her neck. It sent a delicious chill down her spine until his lips made contact with her flesh. She gasped, her body becoming rigid. This was new to her, therefore somewhat frightening. She didn't know if he wanted anything in return or if this was just his way of showing affection, but decided not to take any chances and quickly pulled away, shrugging him off like a fly. "Don't… do that," she said in an irritated manner, trying not to show her fear.

"Do what?" Van asked, truly wondering what he'd done wrong this time. He thought he had enough experience with women to know how far he could push them before they felt uncomfortable, but this was new territory for him. Charlie was one unpredictable and confusing woman. She liked being held and having her hand kissed, but it seemed that anywhere else his lips touched, she turned into the ice queen.

"Tell me I'm beautiful then try to kiss me," Charlie answered, pulling away from his arms so she could stand up. This situation had gone from bad to worse, and she only hoped that it wasn't going to turn into a mistake she'd regret later on.

"Whoa, hey, wait," Van said as she pushed her way out his arms. "Charlie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away." She was already on her feet by now, but she did turn back to look at him, the discontent present in her eyes. He stood up so they were standing eye to eye, well, sort of, considering he was at least half a foot taller than she. Taking her hands in his, Van gazed into her hazel orbs, the caring and concern ever present. "Why don't you like it when I kiss you or tell you that you're beautiful?" he asked.

"Because…" Charlie looked down, kicking the dirt at her feet as she tried to hide her real reasons. But when Van's hand came up beneath her chin and lifted her head so they were gazing at each other again, she knew she couldn't hold back, not with those big grey green sad puppy dog eyes reaching into the very depths of her soul and grabbing onto her heart. "That just doesn't happen to me. Nobody's ever told me I was beautiful, and nobody has ever really kissed me either," she finally revealed. "I'm not what people consider beautiful. That's what my mother tells me. She calls me a fat cow and tells me that no boy would ever look at a girl like me unless I lost weight and wore makeup and pretty clothes."

Van was surprised when he found that Charlie wasn't crying as she made this admission to him. It sounded as if it was something she had come to accept, like it had been beaten into her head. "She… she says that to you?" he asked, even more surprised by what he was being told. Charlie nodded. "Well, she's wrong! Not all guys are shallow like that." It seemed ironic that at the same time he was saying those words, Van could hear Billie's voice in the back of his mind telling him that he was. But he was determined to prove them both wrong. "Tomorrow night, you'll see what I mean," he said. "I'll make sure that you feel just as beautiful as I think you look."

"Easier said than done," Charlie retorted, rolling her eyes.

"I'll prove it," Van confidently answered.

"You do that," she skeptically told him as she let go of his hands and started walking towards the car. "Take me home now, please."

"Sure." Van followed, getting ahead of her to open her door. It was a small gesture to show her that he meant what he said about proving that all guys weren't jackasses.

"Thank you," Charlie quietly replied. She got in, making sure her feet didn't knock over the vase. Her eyes gazed down at the flowers as Van took his seat beside her and started the car, the engine rumbling to life. He shifted into reverse and pulled away from the beautiful spot he'd revealed to her that night. Charlie's eyes remained focused on the flowers as he drove her back to her house in the Hills. "How'd you know I liked lilies? Did Stella tell you?" It was her meek attempt at conversation after the near fatal downfall they just had.

"Actually, no," Van answered, giving her a sincere look. "The lady at the flower shop thought they'd be perfect for you because they symbolize sweetness, so I went with it. They really are your favorites?"

"Yeah," Charlie said. "I'm not big on roses because I feel that they've just become so over used as symbols of love and passion and marriage. There's such a delicate beauty in lilies, like they can be easily broken if not handled properly."

"Huh…" Van replied, nodding. "That's interesting. They are quite beautiful, though."

Charlie smiled, picking a lily from the vase and holding it in her hand. She continued to hold it until they were almost a block away from the front gates. "Stop here," she said. Van glanced over at her as she added, "The last thing I need is for my mother and Sterling to find out we're together. They'd totally flip out."

"Okay," Van replied, understanding well enough that they had already put themselves in a strange position, and that if Sterling did find out he was seeing his step-daughter, the case could quite possibly be over as well.

"Thanks for the flowers. They did manage to brighten my shitty day," Charlie said as she stepped out of the car, grabbing the vase and the last of her dinner.

"You're welcome," Van answered with a smile.

Charlie smiled as well. She was beginning to feel better. Maybe he would prove that guys we're as shallow as they seemed. "Goodnight," she said, handing him the lily she had been holding and closing the door behind her. She stared to walk towards the front gate when she heard Van call her name.

"Hey, Charlie," he yelled from his open window. She turned around wondering what he wanted now. "Wear a dress tomorrow night; something nice." Charlie's mouth dropped open, but before she even got a chance to protest, he was off, the engine of the car overpowering anything she might have said. She merely shook her head and turned around again as she made her way to the gate. The security guard gave her a funny look when he noticed the flowers, but quickly let her in.

As she walked up the long driveway, Charlie made sure to pluck the note off the vase and put it in her pocket before she entered the house. There were already enough excuses she needed to make for why she'd been out so late and why she was bringing home flowers. Fortunately for her, Sterling and her mother weren't anywhere to be seen. The house was actually empty that night. Charlie sighed with relief and started to make her way to her room.

Just as she was about to open the door to her room, Stella came out of the one across the hall, surprised by what she saw. Charlie glared at her, the look on her face almost frightening. "Where the fuck were you?" she growled. "I wanted for an hour! A FUCKING HOUR! I called you every five minutes! What the hell happened to you? Are you really that scatter brained?"

Stella stood there, open mouthed and dumbfounded. "Shit…" she breathed. "I got caught up in a meeting with the student government until almost an hour ago. It was really stressing, and all I wanted to do was go home. I completely forgot that I needed to pick you up from work. I swear, Charlie, my phone was on silent and I still haven't checked it yet. I'm soooooo sorry!"

"You're such a jackass," Charlie retorted as she opened the door to her room. She was getting ready to slam it shut when Stella grabbed it.

"How'd you get home? Did you walk? What's with the flowers?" she asked, following her sister into her room.

"Shut up and go away," Charlie grumbled, setting the vase down on her desk.

"Come on, Charlie, I'm really sorry that I forgot," Stella continued to apologize as she sat down on the bed. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. Now, tell me, what happened tonight? How did you get home and where did you get the flowers?"

Charlie sighed. She pulled the note out of her pocket and handed it to Stella. As he sister read it, she made her way to the bathroom, desperately wanting a shower. "Oh, my God!" she heard Stella shriek from the other room. "He's so SWEET!"

"No shit," Charlie replied, going back into her room to grab her track pants and t-shirt. "We're going out tomorrow night…" A light bulb suddenly went off in her head. "And I've got the perfect way for you to pay me back for tonight," she added. The devious smile and twinkle in her eyes quickly made Stella cringe.

"Oh, no…" she moaned. "You're not gonna make me do what I think you're gonna make me do!"

"Oh, yes! I am!" Charlie answered before shutting the bathroom door and turning on the shower.

Stella fell back against the bed, burying her face in a pillow. "Damn it, she's gonna make me go shopping with her," she mumbled.


End file.
